Manhattan Fights
by YinYangWriter
Summary: The Dimensional Guardians Trilogy comes to an end. The LYOKO warriors must travel to Manhattan to stop XANA from kidnapping a baby. The question on everyone's mind: What could XANA want with a baby?
1. Chapter 1

**This is the final part of the Dimensional Guards Trilogy. Hopefully all questions will be answered. Not only does this fan fiction crossover with **_**Code: LYOKO **_**and **_**Gargoyles**_**, but it also mentions **_**Chaotic**_**. I do not own any of the mentioned shows, but all original characters are mine. Feedback is greatly appreciated. Please enjoy the final piece of this trilogy, Manhattan Fights.**

**Fair warning: I am using some Japanese in this chapter, but there are English translations. So you know, I am learning Japanese, but I am learning from books.**

**If my translation is wrong, I apologize ahead of time and feel free to send me a message to tell me. I'm pretty sure that I haven't said something to insult anyone.**

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* * *

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Yin sat in front of the enormous silver mirror that allowed glimpses into other worlds. Her hands fumbled a puzzle cube, but her attention was focused on the mirror. Her plum painted lips moved silently.

Maj stood in the doorway watching Yin with a concern look. Ever since the Inter-realm Interlude mugic was cast and the trouble had escalated to XANA moving its empire to Perim, Yin was either sitting in front of the mirror or who-knew-where. Each passing day, Yin grew more agitated. Maj could understand why. The captain was riding both their cases about what had happened, but it was Yin who was taking most of the harassment. Yin was used to it, of course, since she was not the most orthodox of them, but Maj could see that she was reaching her breaking point.

The puzzle flew across the room and smashed into the wall.

"Yin, breaking a puzzle cube won't solve anything," Maj said.

Yin whipped around, her dark eye flashing. Maj flinched, not at her dark eye, but at the left eye that was currently uncovered. Yin rarely uncovered her left eye. At the moment, her left eye was a rich blood red.

"And sitting here waiting for the captain to decide to take action won't either," growled Yin, turning back to the mirror. "The idiot! It's a good thing that I gave those kids the means to get to Perim or XANA would have taken control by now. I told him, didn't I? I told him that something was wrong."

"Yes, you did," Maj said quietly.

"Darn right!" snapped Yin. She sighed heavily. "I don't understand. Why XANA? You can't control it. Even its creator failed."

"Is it possible that it has found a way to the other realms?" Maj asked.

"Doubtful," said Yin. "I have been searching for a way that XANA could use, but found nothing. It had outside help. Most likely from whoever created the tear."

"But the mugic," Maj began to say.

"Mugic doesn't cause that much damage," Yin cut in. "No, this is something more. There is an agenda here that has yet to be seen. And I stress 'yet'." Her red eye glimmered as she spoke.

"Okay," said Maj. "What should I tell the captain?"

"Anything you like," said Yin. "I leave the story up to you."

"All right." Maj turned to leave.

"Oh, no!" she heard Yin say.

Maj turned around. "What?"

But Yin was already gone.

* * *

"Come on, Ulrich," said Kayla. "I know you can do this."

The seven of them were in the gym. Kayla was trying to teach Ulrich how to dance. Beside them, Eva and Aelita paused to look at Kayla and Ulrich.

"I'm trying," growled Ulrich.

"Here," said Eva. Eva took Kayla hand. "Ulrich, watch."

Eva waltzed Kayla around the gym with ease.

Ulrich sighed heavily. "You make it look so easy."

"It is easy compared to some of the stuff I do," Eva said. She let go of Kayla and proceed to stand on one hand and spin, her body completely vertical. "Now if you would rather try that."

"No, thanks," Ulrich quickly said. He turned to Kayla. "I would like to try again."

Ulrich and Kayla tried again.

"Your turn, Yumi," Eva said, extending her hand.

"Okay," said Yumi.

"This is fun," said Odd. "But I wouldn't mind learning some of those insane moves of yours, Eva."

"Maybe some other time, Odd," Eva said.

Kayla smiled at Ulrich. "See? You got it. Okay, Jeremy. Your turn."

"Um, I'm not sure that's a good idea," Jeremy said. "I have two left feet."

"You can do it, Jeremy," Aelita said.

Jeremy took Ulrich's place and in no time he was being swept around the gym by Kayla.

"I better get going," said Yumi. "My parents will be wondering where I am."

"Same here," said Kayla.

"Same time tomorrow then?" asked Aelita.

"Sure," replied Kayla.

Yumi and Kayla walked home and the others went back to their rooms until supper.

* * *

The next morning, Yumi walked to school by herself. Hiroki was ahead of her with some of his friends. At the gate, Yumi saw a woman with black hair, wearing jeans and a hooded vest. She looked up as Yumi came up to the gate.

"Ohayo gozaimasu, Ishiyama-san," the woman said.

Yumi froze. The last thing she expected that morning was for some strange woman speaking to her, and in Japanese!

"Donata desu ka?" (Who are you?) Yumi asked.

"Yin desu," (I'm Yin.) The woman replied. "LYOKO senshi no tasuke ga irimasu." (I need the help of the LYOKO warriors.)

"Nani?" whispered Yumi in complete shock. How did this woman know about LYOKO?

The woman leaned close to whisper in Yumi's ear. "I'll be at the factory. Meet me there and bring everyone."

The woman walked away. When Yumi turned around to see where she went, she was nowhere to be found.

"What?" the others asked in unison when Yumi told them at lunchtime.

"I'm just as surprised at you are," said Yumi.

"I don't like this," said Jeremy. "How could she possibly know about the factory?"

"Ulrich, no one stole your diary again, did they?" Odd asked.

"No," replied Ulrich defensively. "I have it hidden in the one place where no one would dare to go."

"What should we do?" asked Kayla.

"If this woman knows about LYOKO, there's a good chance that she's working with XANA," said Jeremy. "She could easily destroy LYOKO. We'd have no way of defeating XANA if she does."

"But why tell us?" asked Aelita.

"Any thoughts, Eva?" asked Ulrich.

They all turned to Eva. Eva sat quietly with her hands folded and her chin resting on them. She thought for a long moment before answering.

"We go to the factory," Eva said. "But we do not go unarmed. We'll take the tunnel in the boiler room so no one sees us. Kayla, Yumi, can you two sneak out tonight?"

"Why wait?" asked Yumi. "We'll go now. She may think that we won't come until after class."

"What are we waiting for?" asked Odd. "Let's go."

The seven of them went to the dorms and got their specter bands. They hurried to the boiler room and entered the tunnel. At the factory, they quietly entered the corridor, deciding against taking the elevator.

At the top of the ladder that led to the supercomputer, they could see the woman that Yumi had described to them sitting in the chair.

"I was wondering what time you would get here," she said without turning to face them. "Come down. I won't bite."

The seven of them climbed down the ladder. The woman rose from the chair and faced them. There was an odd smile on her face.

"Oh, good," she said. "You brought your specter bands with you."

"How do you know about them?" asked Jeremy.

"Who do you think sent you the plans to make them?" the woman asked.

"Lady, you have a lot of explaining to do," said Ulrich.

"You're right, I do," the woman said. "Let me begin with my name. I am called Yin Tale Teller de-Roux. I am a dimensional guard. I keep watch over the dimensions and expunge things that do not belong in the dimensions. Unfortunately, I have not been diligent. Someone has created a tear in the barriers that separate the different dimensions. Whoever has done this is trying to take control of XANA and take it out of your dimension."

"Can't you do anything about it?" asked Kayla. "Why drag us into it?"

"It became necessary to find outside help," Yin explained. "I am only one guard. I have told the others what is happening, but they won't believe me. They think the tear was just a freak accident brought on by events that were unforeseen and that I'm just looking for someone to blame for my laziness. But I know they're wrong. The only other guard who will side with me cannot do anything without arousing the suspicions of our captain. We aren't supposed to be investigating."

"Even when XANA escaped our dimension?" asked Odd. "I would think that would raise a red flag."

"So did I. I sent you to deal with XANA while I looked for whoever sent it to Perim. The only thing I found was a tear in the barrier, which I sealed. I'm starting to think that it wasn't a good idea. I destroyed my only evidence to prove my case." Yin's eyes flashed as she spoke.

"I need your help again," she said. "Before you had little trouble with defeating XANA. I hope you will do it again. This time, it's a bit more difficult."

"We'll help you," said Aelita.

"Aelita," Jeremy began to protest.

"No, Jeremy," she said. "XANA is a threat to all mankind. We cannot let it win." Aelita looked at Yin. "What do you need us to do?"

"I have a lead of who is the cause of all of this," said Yin. "Unfortunately, I cannot be in two places at once. My full attention must be on finding this person. That's where you come in. XANA is making its move on another dimension with the aid of this mystery person."

"Great," groaned Jeremy. "Another three weeks in the factory with Kiwi."

Yin turned to Jeremy with a smile. "Not this time, young Mr. Belpois. This time, you are going with them."

"Who will take care of Kiwi?" asked Odd.

"I can," said Yin. "Actually my friend can. She always wanted a pet. Kiwi's small, right?"

"Yeah," chuckled Ulrich. "Small and loud."

"Ah, she puts up with my shenanigans," said Yin. "She can put up with a small dog."

Kayla turned to Eva to see a small smile on her lips. Where had they heard that before?

"That's why I wanted to meet here," said Yin. "Jeremy needs his LYOKO form."

"Einstein's going to fight with us?" asked Odd.

"I am not going out in public looking like that!" Jeremy cried.

"Things change," said Yin. "Your LYOKO forms changed, didn't they? I'm sure you're due for an upgrade."

"Go for it, Jeremy," said Yumi. "If it's going to be as rough as she says, we're going to need all the help we can get."

Jeremy was quiet for a moment. "Okay. But only if Aelita operates the supercomputer."

Yin put her hands up in surrender and stepped away from the supercomputer.

Jeremy, Odd, and Ulrich got on the elevator and went to the scanner room. The three of them got into the scanners.

"See you on the other side," said Ulrich as the doors closed.

Jeremy gulped.

A moment later, Jeremy found himself face down in the virtual LYOKO dirt.

"Nice landing, again," chuckled Ulrich.

Jeremy groaned and got up on his knees. He looked at his hands. They were covered with aqua gloves. His forearms were covered with steel armor. Jeremy got to his feet and continued to inspect his new wardrobe. He looked like a space warrior from the year 3000. His jumpsuit was gray and aqua blue with green accents on the collar and on the dark gray straps that crisscrossed his chest. On his back was a dark gray pack and he wore a dark gray helmet with an aqua stripe and his glasses were replaced with the dark visor of his helmet. Strapped to his hip was a gun holster with an aqua colored blaster.

"Nice getup, Einstein," said Odd.

"Well?" came Aelita's voice.

"He looks great," said Odd.

"I'm bringing you in," said Aelita, beginning to type in the materialization code.

"Don't you want to get your LYOKO legs first, Jeremy?" Yin asked.

Eva grabbed Yin's shoulder and turned her around. "I don't know what you are up to, but if anything happens to them, you will answer to me."

Yin smirked. "And just what are you going to do? You are a child. I doubt you can do anything to hurt me."

Eva growled and lunged at Yin. Yin allowed Eva to knock her to the floor and put her hands around her throat. Eva was squeezing, but it wasn't hurting Yin the slightest. All of a sudden, Yin fell through the floor and reappeared on the other side of the room.

"No tricks, I assure you," said Yin. "I only want to save the world from XANA and whoever else is behind this."

"What do you think?" asked Ulrich.

"I'm not sure," said Jeremy with a shake of his head.

"Well, since we're here," Odd said, taking aim at Jeremy.

"Ow!" cried Jeremy, grabbing his shoulder. "Odd, what was that for?"

"We're on LYOKO, aren't we?" Odd asked. "I don't see any monsters that you could practice on, so you'll have to settle for us."

"Why, you!" Jeremy pulled his blaster and fired. The shot missed Odd by a mile. Odd and Ulrich laughed. "Shut up!"

"You're going to need to work on that," said Ulrich.


	2. Chapter 2

Maj stood in front of the silver mirror. Nothing could be seen but her reflection. She was contemplating if she wanted to know what Yin was up to. There was a 99 percent chance that she was doing something that could get her into a lot of trouble. And if Maj knew, she could wind up in just as much trouble herself.

The door to the room burst open.

"Where is she?"

Maj turned around to see a woman dressed in black leather, her greatcoat pulled back to show the two pistols strapped to her waist. She was flanked by two young men, one dressed in a similar fashion and the other like a ninja.

"Hello and welcome, Maho," Maj said, not surprised by her uninvited guests. She knew that the captain would be sending someone soon to check up on them. And if he sent these three, he meant business.

"Save it! Where's Yin?" Maho demanded.

"She isn't here," replied Maj.

"The Dimensional Council has issued an arrest warrant for Yin Tale Teller de-Roux," said the young man dressed similarly to Maho. "Aiding and abetting her will only delay the inevitable and earn you several years in the stockade."

Maj turned to the young man. "And who is this, Maho?"

"This is Liam Shadow, my apprentice," Maho answered. "And he is right. If you are hiding something, Magicfire, you are in just as much trouble as Yin."

Maj smiled. "Then it's a good thing that I don't know anything," she said cheerfully.

"How can you not know anything?" cried Liam. "You live with her! Draco Castle is enormous, yes, but your paths must cross at some point."

"How little your apprentice knows, Maho," Maj said with a giggle.

"This amuses you?" Liam yelled.

"Let me tell you something about Yin, boy," Maj said. "She may not be the most law abiding guard — "

Maho laughed.

" — but that does not mean she is brainless," Maj finished with her reptilian eyes fixed on Maho. She turned back to Liam. "Yin is very calculating. She knows when something can get her into trouble."

Now Liam laughed. "Like the time she shot a prisoner in the backside in front of the Fifth Company."

"No. Get your facts straight," Maj said. "She didn't shoot him in the backside. She shot him in the nom-de-plumes."

Liam's grin disappeared and he and the ninja instinctively moved a hand closer to the area of the body in question.

"She gets caught all the time for breaking the law," said Maho.

"Only petty things and every few years something a little more than lilliputian," Maj said. "When Yin does not want someone to know something that she did, no one finds out. I challenge you to find her."

"Fine!" Maho marched passed Maj and stood in front of the mirror. "Show us Yin."

Nothing happened.

"Show us!" Maho snapped.

This time, the colors swirled in the mirror, but nothing was clear.

"It won't work for you," said Maj. "I am the only one who can use it."

"What about Yin?" Maho said. "She's used it before."

"Yin's . . . special, to say the least," Maj explained.

Liam groaned. "That eyepatch of hers."

Maj bit her lip. If only they knew. It wasn't the outfit that made Yin, it was Yin who made the outfit. The eyepatch was special, yes, but not what was used to see the unseen.

Maho growled in frustration and whipped around to face Maj. "If you hear from her, you tell us."

"What makes you think she'll contact me?" asked Maj.

"You've been friends since you became a guard," Maho replied. "Liam, Shinobi, come!"

The three left, leaving Maj the only one in the room with the mirror of swirling colors. She turned to the mirror and waved her hand. The colors stopped and the mirror now showed Maj's reflection.

"I don't know what you've gotten yourself into, Yin, but whatever you do, don't come home until the job is done." Maj laughed. "But you already know that, don't you?"


	3. Chapter 3

The LYOKO warriors gathered in Odd and Ulrich's room. They would have time before Yin would send them to the dimension. She said that she needed to prepare a few things. Jeremy had a few things to get in order as well. He was currently modifying their specter bands.

"Okay, that's the last one," said Jeremy. He turned away from the desk and handed Eva her specter band. "I modified the program to allow us to be 'Jeremy-fied', as Odd would put it. Also, I programed the bands to activate when you are under extreme stress."

"Not just programed to monitor heart rate, I hope," Eva said.

"No," replied Jeremy. "Yin gave me a program to use. It'll trigger when it senses elevated blood pressure and sweat."

"Sweat?" asked Odd.

"A lot of moisture is lost through the skin," said Kayla. "I'm assuming that the program analyzes the hormones in the sweat."

"Yes," answered Jeremy. "How did you know?"

"My dad's a doctor," said Kayla.

"So when you sweat, the band analyzes the sweat's chemical composition and if it finds a certain amount of hormones, it activates," said Yumi.

"More or less," said Jeremy, "but it monitors heart rate and breathing as well."

"No one thing triggers it," said Eva. "What's the target heart rate?"

"It's different for everyone," said Jeremy. "I used your biological scans to come up with the figures."

Kiwi barked.

"Yeah, you know what's going on, diggity dog," said Odd, petting his head.

"Let's get what we need together," said Eva.

"That reminds me," said Odd, getting off his bed. He opened the closet and pulled out a package covered with purple wrapping paper with little blue kittens. "This is for you, Eva. Happy birthday, phantasm."

Eva had a confused look on her face. "It's not my birthday, Odd."

"I figured that," said Odd. "Go on, open it."

Eva removed the blue bow and set it beside her only to have Kayla reach over and stick it on Eva's head. Eva gave her an unhappy glance and unwrapped her gift.

"Dude!" whispered Eva in awe as she held up a black hooded sweatshirt.

"Wait, there's more," said Odd. He reached into the kangaroo pocket and pulled out a black bandana. "Now you can disappear into the shadows."

"Odd, thank you," said Eva, slipping it over her head.

"I figured since your last one got ruined, you could use a new one," Odd said.

Eva adjusted the sweatshirt and tied the bandana around her mouth and nose. "What do you think?" she asked, standing up and giving a twirl.

"Looks good," said Yumi.

"Thank you, brother," said Eva.

"Aw, shucks," said Odd, a little embarrassed.

"The last thing he needs is another sister," said Ulrich.

"At least this one won't lock me in the bathroom," Odd said.

"Are you ready?" Yin was standing by the door. The LYOKO warriors didn't see her or hear her enter.

"Yes," answered Kayla.

"All right," said Yin. "Tomorrow we will leave for the next dimension. I found which one it is. Be aware that you will not be the only ones with special powers."

"We were prepared for that already," said Yumi.

Yin nodded. "Good. I'll see you in the morning." Yin opened the door and left.

"Time for bed," said Eva. "We all need to get our sleep."

"My parents are probably wondering where I am," said Yumi.

"Mine, too," said Kayla. "See you tomorrow."

* * *

In the middle of the night, Eva heard someone moving in the hallway. With her penknife in one hand she got up and opened the door a crack. Experience told her that any strange sounds could be the work of XANA. There was no one in the hall.

Eva sighed and grabbed her shower items and went to the bathroom. She stripped down and got stepped under the hot water. Something told her that this was going to be the last hot shower for a long time.

Eva heard the bathroom door close and she poked her head around the shower stall to see who it was. Aelita was standing at the threshold to the showers. Eva sighed with relief.

"I thought no one would be up at this hour," Eva said.

"I thought the same," Aelita said.

Eva finished her shower and wrapped a towel around herself. She and Aelita sat on one of the benches.

"What are you doing up?" asked Aelita.

"I thought I heard something," said Eva. "And since I was up, I thought I would take a shower. What about you?"

"Nightmares again," Aelita replied.

"What about?"

"The memories that haunt me," Aelita answered.

Eva nodded. "I know how that is. Sometimes I still think I'm at home and that my sister is alive. And then everything unravels again like it did two years ago. That's the reason for this most of the time." Eva rubbed the dark circles under her eyes. "I don't think I'll ever truly sleep again."

Eva got up and dressed herself. Aelita got a full view of the scars on her back and shoulders. Each scar had a different story, a story Aelita wasn't sure she wanted to hear.

"Come on," said Eva after she pulled her shirt on. "Let's go back to bed."


	4. Chapter 4

Morning came and the LYOKO warriors were ready for Yin to come. Each had packed a backpack full of clothes and food and a first aid kit. Kiwi danced around Odd's legs, knowing that something was about to happen.

Yin appeared in Jeremy's dorm room, the agreed upon meeting place. Today she was dressed in an indigo tunic, black pants with blue and green swirl designs and a fuchsia eyepatch that covered her left eye.

"Ready to go?" she asked. They nodded. "Okay, then."

Yin pulled out a silver key and pointed it at the door. A beam of light shot from the end and a portal opened.

Kiwi growled and hid behind Odd.

"Is that the dog?" Yin asked.

Odd picked up Kiwi. "Yeah. He's a little upset at the moment. He doesn't know you."

"That's fine," said Yin. She took Kiwi from Odd.

"Bye, Kiwi," said Odd with a final pat on the dog's head.

"Step through the portal and you'll be in the other dimension," said Yin.

"Anything we should know about this dimension we're going to?" asked Ulrich.

Yin pulled out a newspaper and handed it to Eva. "Everything you need to know is on the front page."

"Let's go," said Aelita.

One at a time, they stepped into the portal and disappeared.

They appeared in a dark warehouse somewhere near water. Sunlight came through the small windows illuminating the dust particles in the air.

Kayla sneezed. "Oh! Eva, what does the newspaper say?" she sniffed.

Eva took a moment and quietly reviewed the front page. The others watched her raise an eyebrow.

"Okay," Eva drew out.

"What?" asked Odd.

"Apparently there have been some monster sightings," Eva said.

"It's probably XANA," said Jeremy.

Eva frowned. "Not unless XANA's trying to lower Manhattan's crime rate."

"Manhattan?" asked Yumi. "As in New York? Were in America?"

Eva nodded. "And it's dated 1997."

"We've gone back in time?" asked Kayla.

"I don't think so," said Aelita. "It's a different dimension. Perhaps they've always been a few years behind us."

"With any luck, the outdated technology will slow XANA down," said Ulrich.

"Let's hope so," said Kayla. "New York is the city that never sleeps. There are so many electronic devices."

Aelita shook her head. "XANA was created a few years earlier."

Ulrich groaned. "There goes that hope."

"Don't be negative," Odd said with a smile.

"Odd's right," said Eva. "Negativity will only lead to our demise. And the last thing we need is a defeat. Especially when Yin is counting on us to get the job done."

"I'm not so sure about Yin," said Jeremy.

"I'm with you there, brother," said Eva. "But if what she says is true, XANA could destroy this world. And I for one am not going to sit by and let it."

"She's right," said Yumi. "We have to trust Yin. Now what were you saying about monsters?"

"Not much to tell," said Eva. "There isn't a picture of them. It only says that a bank robbery was foiled by a group of monsters."

Kayla shuddered. "I don't like this. What have we gotten ourselves into?"

"Stop." Eva put the newspaper down. She pulled out her cell phone. "Our phones work, but I don't know how well."

"We'll work with what we got," said Kayla. "That's what you're always telling me, right?"

"At least Yin was nice and left us some cash," said Odd. He opened his backpack and took out an envelope that looked like it was about to explode.

"How much do we have?" asked Ulrich.

"Two thousand dollars," said Odd. "At least that's what she told me."

"Not much," said Eva. "We can easily burn a hole in that in an hour just in taxi fares and food. We'll have to be careful how we spend it. Unless . . . " Eva turned away, her eyes growing distant.

"No!" said Kayla warningly. "Don't even think about it."

"Too late," said Eva. "Everyone, check your bags. If Yin slipped money into Odd's, maybe she slipped something else in one of ours."

The seven of them opened their backpacks and searched for anything they didn't pack.

"I found a key," said Aelita, holding up a key ring. "It's a hotel room key to the Plaza Hotel."

"What?"

"To the penthouse suite," Aelita said. "At least that's what her note says."

"She got us a suite at the Plaza Hotel?" Kayla said in shock. "The Plaza?"

"Oh, come on! You seriously think I would leave you alone in New York?" Yin was standing behind Jeremy and Ulrich.

"The thought had crossed my mind," Jeremy said flatly.

"Come on," said Yin. "I rented a van."

The eight of them went outside and found a dinged up van parked next to the warehouse. Yin got into the driver's seat and started it. The LYOKO warriors clamored in after her.

Yin drove erratically.

"Don't get us pulled over," said Ulrich.

"Don't worry," Yin said. "I've done this before. Granted it was with something much bigger and could fly, but this isn't too different from that."

Yin pulled up next to the Plaza Hotel and they got out. Eva watched Yin walk up to the front desk and sign them in. There were a lot of looks from the staff, looks that Eva was not comfortable with.

They followed the bellhop to the penthouse suite. Yin gave him a generous tip and he left.

"I signed you guys under the name 'Riddle'," said Yin. "I'm using the name Anne Riddle. Common enough first name, don't you think?"

"Whatever works for you," said Odd.

"Anyway, I didn't tell them much about you," Yin continued. "Make up the story as you please. You can be cousins, friends, whatever you like. I'll check in with you when I can."

"Wait!" called Yumi. "What if something happens and we need you?"

"Check your mobiles," said Yin. "My number's in there under 'Riddle'."

Yin disappeared.

"At least we have a way to contact her," said Kayla.

"Listen up," said Eva. "I don't think it's a very good idea to use our real names for anything. If we have to give someone a name, we should use a fake. XANA can probably track us if it gets into a data base."

"Okay, bro," said Odd, putting his arm around Eva's shoulders. "Can I call you 'Ricky'?"

"Whatever," said Eva. "Kayla, you know the aliases I use. Just in case something happens."

"I know," said Kayla.

"Let's get settled in," said Eva. "But keep everything ready to go if we need to leave in a hurry."

The seven of them explored the suite and the hallways on their floor. Aelita and Kayla took inventory on everything they had. Jeremy began searching for leads on the internet. Eva, Yumi, Odd, and Ulrich mapped out the hallways and all possible escape routes.

"I found a way to the roof," said Ulrich when they came back in.

"Good," said Jeremy. "We'll need it."

"Find anything, Jeremy?" asked Yumi.

"Not at the moment. There doesn't appear to be any abnormal activity here from what I can tell."

"That's weird," said Yumi. "You'd think if XANA was here it would be causing all kinds of trouble."

"I agree," said Aelita.

"Maybe XANA's gone incognito," said Odd.

"But why?" asked Kayla. "This isn't LYOKO. It can take out half the city in an hour."

"It's looking for something," Eva said.

"For what? What could be here that XANA could want?" asked Yumi.

Eva turned to Odd. "Let's hope your anticipation ability still works."

Odd nodded and activated his specter band.

"Okay, now what?" asked Ulrich. "He could never activate it on command. And how do we even know that he still has that ability?"

"He still has it," said Eva. "Remember back at the factory when we were first practicing with the specter bands? I hit Odd so hard that he had a psychic vision."

"But I think there were other elements in play with that one, Eva," said Kayla.

Odd froze where he stood. He could see something! Winged monsters. A castle. An infant.

"Well?" Eva asked.

Odd shook his head. "It's not what XANA is after. It's who. I saw winged monsters and a castle and inside of the castle was a baby. I think XANA wants the baby."

"A baby?" asked Ulrich.

"What could XANA want with a baby?" asked Yumi.

"It's perfect," said Kayla. "XANA could control the baby and no one would be the wiser."

"Unless whoever sprang XANA from LYOKO wants the baby," said Eva. "We need to find out where the castle is."

"It could be Belvedere Castle in Central Park," said Aelita. "We're not far from it."

"Let's check it out," said Yumi.

"No," said Eva. "It's too obvious. That's not it."

"What?" asked Jeremy. "How do you know?"

Odd narrowed his eyes and turned to Jeremy. "It's XANA, Einstein. It never makes anything easy."

"Jeremy's right, we don't know for sure," said Aelita.

"Thank you, Aelita," said Jeremy with a smug smile.

"But Odd is also right," Aelita continued. "It is very rare that XANA would make anything simple. Even if it believed that we could not follow it, it wouldn't be careless with its plans. We should check just to be safe."

"Then let's check it out," said Ulrich. "The sooner we rule it out, the sooner we can move on."

The seven of them left and walked through Central Park to Belvedere Castle.

"This isn't it," said Odd.

"You sure?" asked Ulrich.

"Positive," replied Odd. "I know this wasn't in my vision."

Eva was very quiet. She tuned out the others and listened to what was around her.

"Guys," she said. "We need to go. Now."

"What's wrong?" asked Yumi.

Kayla looked around, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. "Eva, it's nothing."

"Kayla, now," Eva said.

A man walked up to them. Eva's eyes became alive. There was something off about this man. He walked with purpose up to them. And then she saw it; XANA's mark.

"Run!" Eva yelled.

The man hurled a ball of energy at them. They scattered and began to run back to the hotel. Eva brought up the rear, careful to avoid any attacks, but protecting the others at the same time.

"Kayla, just run!" Eva shouted.

Eva turned to face the man who was possessed by XANA. "Okay, buster, let's see what you got." Eva gave her specter band a twist and activated her Jeremy-fied form.

The man growled, the symbol pulsing in his eyes. Eva conjured an energy ball of her own and threw it. It was a good hit that sent the man reeling. Eva dropped into a defensive crouch and waited. The man righted himself and came at Eva again. His movements were quick for a human's but so were Eva's. She landed a powerful kick to his leg and slammed her knee into his stomach. Both attacks had much more power than a human and the man was sent flying into the air. The man landed on his feet and threw a punch that Eva dodged. She slammed her own fist into his face.

Thinking she now had his undivided attention, Eva began to run down the path away from the hotel. The man was hot on her heels. Eva hid in the trees and they began to play a very dangerous game of hide-and-seek.

**I know, a total cliffhanger. I thought the story needed a bit of drama right about now.**


	5. Chapter 5

Maj heard something in the mirror room. She walked in to find a small dog sniffing around the room. Sitting by the chessboard, rubbing her thumb and forefinger over the silver queen was Yin.

"What are you doing here?" asked Maj. "Maho was here. They have an arrest warrant for you."

"That doesn't surprise me," said Yin, putting the chess piece down.

"What are you up to? Wait, don't answer that. I don't want to know." Maj turned her attention to the dog. "What's with the pooch?"

"You get to take care of him until this mess is sorted out," said Yin.

"What? Why?" Maj put her hand up. "Don't tell me. Why me?"

"Why not you?" asked Yin. "You said you always wanted a pet. Consider Kiwi as a trial pet. His owner left him in my care and I'm leaving him in yours."

Maj shook her head. "Yin, I can't cover for you this time," she said.

"I'm not asking you to," said Yin. "I'm asking you to look after the dog. I doubt Maho wants to deal with him."

Kiwi barked.

"Fine," sighed Maj. "But if he piddles on the carpet, he's out."

"Then make sure you take him to the bathroom," Yin said with a smile.

"Yin," Maj called when she turned to leave. "Be careful."

"No promises," said Yin.

Yin disappeared, leaving Maj to tend to Kiwi. "Okay, Kiwi. Let's see what we can find you to eat."

* * *

Yin appeared in Manhattan and hung in the air. She could sense something, but it wasn't in the city. It felt like it was coming from the sky. Yin flew high in the air, following the energy she sensed.

There was a dark shape hidden in the clouds. Yin, with her special eye, could see it with little difficulty. It was an airship, but the technology did not belong to this dimension.

"I'm willing to bet that's my guy," Yin said to herself.

Yin flew around and found an entrance. She slipped inside and began to look around. The technology in the airship was definitely beyond what anyone in this dimension could come up with.

The airship was large, but there wasn't anyone around. Yin began to search for the crew. The place looked abandoned, she could sense traces of life.

Yin decided that she should go straight to the source: the bridge. Someone was sitting in the captain's chair. She raised her hand and prepared to strike.

"You, stand up," she commanded.

There was a chuckle, male by the sound of it. Something about that chuckle made Yin's stomach knot up, which never happened.

"I won't ask again," said Yin. "Stand up or I will use force."

"You almost sound like you mean it," said the man.

However, he complied. He stood up and turned around. He was wearing a red jumpsuit with black gloves and boots. His hair was jet black with a streak of white and his eyes were dark. There was a smirk on his face that turned into an evil grin when he saw Yin's jaw drop.

"Yang," Yin whispered.

"Did you miss me, sister?" he asked.

Yang looked over Yin's shoulder and nodded. That was the last thing she remembered before she hit the ground.

**More drama. This is the last part of the trilogy. Everything needs a twist and an answer.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry about leaving you hanging with Yin. Switching back and forth between characters, I believe, is more interesting. Now you're back to finding out what happened to Eva.**

Eva took a deep breath. Even with the aid of her specter band, she was becoming tired. And if she was, so was the XANAfied man that was chasing her. Their game had lasted for hours and now it was dark and very difficult to see. That was perfect for Eva. How many nights had she gone sneaking around town, hiding from dangerous men? The turf was in her favor, but for how long was the question. How long would her specter band hold up? She was sure that she could handle things without too much trouble if it should fail.

From her current position, the low branches of a tree, Eva could see the man searching for her. Her dark clothes provided the perfect camouflage and as long as she didn't move, she would be fine. But she would have to move soon. Even an experienced player of hide-and-seek, and someone who was used to running from someone, knew that the best way to remain hidden was to move.

Eva was close to the edge of the park. There were plenty of places to hide in plain sight in the city. She carefully climbed out of the tree and made a dash for the road. It only took a moment for the man to find her and he started after her.

Eva ran out of the park and into the street without looking. Her luck ran out and a taxi hit her. She hit the ground hard and didn't move. The man who was following stopped and looked at Eva's lifeless body. The job was done. The human was dead. The man let out a strangled cry as the specter left his body.

* * *

"Oh, my God," said the cabby in horror. He stood beside the kid he had hit. A crowd of witnesses had gathered around. "I never saw him."

"Call 911!" someone shouted.

"Is he alive?" the cabby asked as a man stooped beside the boy.

"Yes, he's alive," answered the man after checking for a pulse.

* * *

Matt Bluestone walked to the ICU of Manhattan General. He had caught the case of a teenager who was hit by a cab.

"Dr. Sato," he called.

An Asian doctor turned to see the redheaded detective.

"Detective Bluestone?" the doctor asked.

"Yes," Matt replied. "How is the kid?"

"She'll be fine," Dr. Sato answered. "It's a miracle that she isn't hurt worse than she is."

"She?" Matt asked, following Dr. Sato.

"Yes, she. We don't know anything about her. She didn't have any sort of ID on her. Whoever she is, she was dressed like a boy. The only thing we found in her pockets was a hunting knife and a penknife. She knew she was going to be on the streets."

"Do you think she's homeless?" Matt asked.

"No," answered Dr. Sato. "She's in good health for the most part. However, her body is covered in scars."

"Abuse?" asked Matt.

"Most likely," said Dr. Sato with a solemn nod. "The scars vary from old to recent, but there aren't any opened wounds." He opened a door. "This is her room. The painkillers she's on make her loopy, so it may be difficult to get any information out of her."

"Painkillers? I thought you said that her injuries were minor?"

"I said it's a miracle she isn't hurt worse than she is," Dr. Sato corrected. "She's still hurt."

"Thank you, Doctor," said Matt.

"Don't stay long," Dr. Sato said as he left Matt alone with the patient.

* * *

Eva knew where she was the instant she woke. She didn't have any pain and she could smell the disinfectant. She was in a hospital. Worse, she was on painkillers. Eva slowly opened her eyes and looked at the IV in her arm. She lazily lifted on hand and disconnected the IV so it looked like it was still attached. It didn't take long before she began to feel pain again. Her legs were what hurt the worst. Eva saw that they weren't in casts and the pain didn't feel like it was coming from her bones. Just muscle and skin pain. She was certain that they were going to be purple in the morning if they weren't already. On her wrist was a hospital ID bracelet. Eva was glad that it only read, "J. Doe."

She heard a door open and she quickly shut her eyes.

"This is her room. The painkillers she's on make her loopy, so it may be difficult to get any information out of her."

"Painkillers? I thought you said that her injuries were minor?"

"I said it's a miracle she isn't hurt worse than she is. She's still hurt."

"Thank you, Doctor."

"Don't stay long."

XANA to finish her off? No, it would have done that as soon as she was down. And since she didn't know the voice, the only conclusion was that this man was a cop.

Eva opened her eyes and looked at the man. He had red hair and blue eyes.

"My name's Matt," he said. "I'm a police officer. What's your name?"

Yep, a cop.

"Mia Noone," rasped Eva.

"Okay, Mia," said Matt. "Can you tell me what happened?"

"I was running. Someone was chasing me," Eva said.

"Who was chasing you?"

"I don't know," Eva replied.

Keep it together, Eva. Don't let him know who you really are.

"I remember running out of the park," Eva said.

"Do you know what happened after that?" Matt asked.

Of course I do. I was hit by a taxi.

"No," she lied. "I'm sorry, Officer."

"Mia, I need your help," said Matt. "Who gave you those scars?"

Eva swallowed hard.

"Did your father do that to you?" Matt asked. "Was he the one chasing you?"

"I don't want to talk about it," said Eva.

"Mia, you have to help me so I can help you," Matt said.

"Don't worry about it," said Eva, turning away.

"Okay," said Matt. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card. "If you decide you want to talk, my home phone number is on the back. Feel free to call me."

Eva said nothing as he left. As soon as the sound of his footsteps disappeared, she reached for the card.

"Detective? Sorry I called you 'Officer', Bluestone."

Eva pulled herself up and out of bed. She was really sore. She looked at her legs and saw that they already were purple. Nothing was broken thankfully.

Eva went into the bathroom and cleaned herself up the best she could. She had to get out of there fast. Looking in the mirror, Eva found something was missing. Where was her locket? Her chest became tight with panic. They must have had it somewhere. The nurses' station!

Opening the door just enough to peek around the corner, Eva saw that the nurses' sation wasn't far from her room. She crept out of her room and behind the desk. There was a box of clothes labeled "Jane Doe." On top was her black sweatshirt.

A telephone rang and Eva ducked under the desk. The phone stopped ringing. It gave Eva an idea.

* * *

"Do you think she's okay?" asked Yumi.

"It's Eva. She's fine." Even as Kayla said this, she began to worry that Eva may have bitten off more than she could chew.

The others had made it back to the hotel hours earlier. Eva should have been back long already. Something must have gone wrong.

The telephone rang and Kayla answered it. "Hello?"

"Ami? It's Mia."

The voice was unmistakable. It was Eva.

"Where are you?" Kayla asked.

"The hospital," answered Eva. "I'm just leaving."

"Are you okay? What are you doing at the hospital?" Kayla asked.

"What's going on?" asked Yumi.

Kayla waved her hand to keep them quiet.

"I got hit by a car," answered Eva. "Don't worry, I'm fine. Thank Einstein for me when you get the chance. Look, I gotta go. It's only a matter of time before you-know-who figures out I'm not dead."

There was a crash on Eva's end of the line.

"Mia, wait!" Kayla called, but the line went dead.

"Mia?" asked Jeremy.

"One of Eva's aliases," Kayla said. "I'll explain later. Right now we have to go. I think XANA knows where she is."

* * *

Eva took the box of her belongings back into her room and barricaded the door. She changed her clothes and slipped on her specter band. It looked like it was operational.

There was another crash, this one much closer to her room. Eva hurried to the window and opened it. She activated her specter band and turned into her LYOKO form. She called up her over-board and hopped out the window. Eva zipped around to another window and saw William with a pack of kankerlots.

William turned around, feeling like someone was watching him. There was no one in the hall and they were too high up for anyone to climb up the side of the building.

Eva breathed a sigh of relief and opened the throttle on her board. She headed south to the shore.

Back at the hospital, William found an empty room that was supposed to be occupied by a Jane Doe.

"Manta!" roared William, climbing onto the window ledge.

A flying manta flew up to the window and William jumped onto it.

Eva had a feeling that William would figure out that she was there and gone. She looked behind her and saw that her suspicion was correct. William was still too far away to see her, but it wouldn't belong before he did.

She quickly descended so that she was just clearing some of the larger apartment buildings. The shore was not too far away. Eva reached the shore and found a house that could conceal her position. She landed in the backyard and powered down, pressing herself against the house.

The manta carrying William flew overhead for a moment and circled back to the hospital. Eva smirked. William was smart, but she was smarter.

A dog barked, causing Eva to jump.

"Gilly, who's at the door?" came a man's voice.

The backdoor opened and a German shepherd came bounding up to Eva, growling like it was going to rip her throat out. The odd thing was that the dog had a harness, like one for a seeing eye dog. A man appeared at the backdoor with wearing a pair of sunglasses.

He's blind.

Eva let out a sigh of relief. It would be easy to get out of this one.

"Hello? Is someone there?" the man asked.

"Can you call your dog off, please?" Eva said in her best boy voice.

"Gilly, come here," the man said. The dog went to the man's side. "Are you all right? Are you lost?"

"Kind of," replied Eva.

"Come inside," said the man.

Eva cautiously approached the man and his dog. The dog growled low, but Eva kept moving.

"My name is Robbins. Jeffrey Robbins."

"Ricky," Eva replied.

"Are you hurt?" asked Robbins.

"No, sir," replied Eva.

"Liar," Robbins said. "I can hear the way you walk. Your legs cause you pain. Sit down."

"I'm fine," Eva insisted.

"Sit," said Robbins. "I'll get you something to drink. Do you like iced tea?"

"Water's fine," said Eva.

Eva took a seat in an armchair and looked around. The walls were lined with shelves full of books.

Robbins came back and Eva took her glass of water.

"What were you doing out there?" asked Robbins.

"I had a bit of trouble," said Eva.

"Is that how your legs were injured?"

Eva bit her lip. This guy wasn't going to let up about her legs, was he? "Yeah," she replied. She took a sip of water. She needed a way to get out of this. "I had a bit of an accident."

"The kind that could get you killed?" asked Robbins.

"Yes," replied Eva.

"You're welcome to stay the night here," said Robbins. "I don't mind."

"That's very kind of you, Mr. Robbins, but I can manage," Eva said.

"I insist," Robbins said. "You sound like you could use the rest. I have a guest bedroom that is not used often. I would rather you use it. I have company coming tonight or I would let you sleep on the sofa."

"Thank you, sir," said Eva.

Robbins showed Eva the room. He gave her what she needed to make the bed and gave her something to eat. Eva went to bed right after that.

Eva realized that she hadn't been asleep at the hospital long. It must have been because of the specter band and her minor injuries. It was only one in the morning. Eva laid in bed unable to sleep until one-thirty, when she heard voices.

"A boy came here?"

"And he's still here," Robbins answered. "He's asleep upstairs. He wouldn't tell me what happened, but I could tell that he ran into a bit of trouble. He's hurt, too. He has a bit of a limp."

Eva got out of bed and carefully left her room and sat at the top of the stairs. Robbins' friend had a thick Scottish accent. The thought of sneaking downstairs crossed her mind, but with her legs and with Robbins' hearing, the chances of getting away with it were slim. Eva went back to bed and fell asleep.

* * *

**Anyone care to guess who Robbins' friend is?**


	7. Chapter 7

The rest of the LYOKO warriors were hiding in an abandoned warehouse. Jeremy was watching the sky for any sign of William. With his visor he could see everything in the dark. The others were taking turns sleeping.

Kayla got up and stood beside Jeremy. "I'm getting worried. She hasn't called and she's hurt; I could hear it in her voice. Do you think William got to her?"

"No," said Jeremy. "Eva's full of surprises. I wouldn't be surprised if she found a way out of the hospital without anyone seeing her."

Kayla smiled. "I should have thought of that. Eva's smart."

Aelita tapped Jeremy on the shoulder. "I don't think it's a good idea stay together. I think we should split up."

"If we split up, XANA may find one of us," said Kayla.

"At the same time, a group of six teens will attract attention," said Jeremy. "What were you thinking, Aelita?"

"We split into twos," said Aelita. "We stay in constant contact and we try to find Eva."

"Who goes with who?" asked Jeremy.

"I'll go with you," said Aelita. "Kayla, you go with Yumi. Odd and Ulrich will be the final team. We'll each take a separate section of Manhattan. Kayla, do you have any idea where Eva would go if she was in trouble?"

"There are a few places," said Kayla. "She likes dark, quiet places where she can see people, but no one can see her. She likes libraries, museums, or any place outside with a lot of cover."

"Just about anywhere in Manhattan," said Jeremy.

"You should check the parks first," said Kayla. "If she is hurt, she doesn't want anyone to see that she is."

"Okay," said Jeremy. "Wake everyone up. We need to move while we still have some dark."

Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi were filled in about the plan and they went their separate ways. Odd and Ulrich took Battery Park and Jeremy and Aelita took Madison and Washington Square parks and Yumi and Kayla took Central Park.

"What do you think Eva's doing right now?" Yumi called to Kayla over the sound of the wind.

"Surviving," Kayla answered. "It's what she does best."

"Something tells me something like this has happened before," said Yumi.

Kayla nodded. "Not too long ago," Kayla answered. "It was right before we came to Kadic. Remember those stitches? She told me her mother gave them to her for staying out too long without telling her. Eva's always out late and her parents usually didn't notice. That night her mother did and beat her senseless. When Eva came to, her mother hit her with a meat cleaver. I didn't see her until the next day, when most of the blood had clotted and the rag she had used to stop the bleeding was completely crimson. She spent the night hiding in the shadows like a criminal."

"She's either brave or crazy," said Yumi.

"Crazy is what she is," said Kayla. "She lives up to her name."

Yumi's band flashed red. "Yeah, Ulrich?"

"I think we may have found something," Ulrich said. "I'm not sure. We're going to check it out."

"What is it?" asked Yumi.

"A castle," Ulrich answered. "Odd thinks this one may be the one he saw in his vision."

"Be careful," said Yumi. "And call us if there's any trouble."

"We will," said Ulrich.

"At least they are having some luck," Kayla said, scouting the ground below for any sign of Eva.

* * *

Odd and Ulrich landed in the tree line in front of the castle.

"Is this it?" asked Ulrich.

Odd shook his head. "Let's check it out anyway," he said. "Eva may be hiding here. It's dark, secluded. I think it's a safe bet she may be here."

"From Manhattan General all the way to Battery Park," Ulrich said thoughtfully. "She could do it if she had her board."

"Let's go," said Odd.

The two of them quietly dashed from the trees and climbed the castle wall. On the roof they began to search for a door.

"I don't take kindly to trespassers," came a man's voice with a Scottish accent.

"Oh, boy," said Odd. "Not good."

Turning around they saw a man in his fifties with silver hair and beard.

Ulrich reached for a saber but the man quickly drew a gun.

"I wouldn't if I were you," the man said.

"This is definitely not good," Odd said, raising his hands.

"Any ideas?" Ulrich whispered to Odd.

"You're asking me?" Odd chuckled nervously.

"My idea could get us killed," said Ulrich. "I was hoping for another option. It would be one thing getting bumped off by XANA, but this guy? I think I rather bend over and let William have a free shot."

"Shut up!" came another voice from behind.

"Banquo, be kind," said the man. "You two, walk." He motioned with his gun the direction that Odd and Ulrich were to walk.

"On three?" Odd asked.

"For what?" asked Ulrich.

Odd shrugged. "Go for broke," answered Odd.

The men had heard and took careful aim.

"Three!" Odd shouted, jumping off the roof.

"Nutcase!" Ulrich shouted, following Odd.

Their vehicles appeared below them and the floored it out of there.

"I never want to do anything like that again," Ulrich yelled to Odd as the castle disappeared from sight.

Odd laughed. "I hope the others are having better luck than we are."

* * *

Jeremy and Aelita flew above the clouds to keep from being seen. Jeremy was becoming well acquainted with the physics of flying with his jet pack. Aelita flapped her angel wings to keep up with him.

"Wait a minute!" Aelita stopped and hovered for a long moment. "Jeremy, do you see that?"

Jeremy looked down expecting to see a skyscraper. What he saw was something unexpected. It was a castle built on top of a skyscraper.

"The castle in Odd's vision?" Aelita said hopefully.

"Maybe," said Jeremy.

"We should check it out," said Aelita, preparing to descend for a closer look.

"Wait!" Jeremy said. He pointed to the tower. "Look. Do you see that?"

Aelita squinted. She could see someone or something moving on the tower. "I can't tell what's there."

Jeremy tapped the side of his helmet. His visor showed him a magnified view. Whatever it was wasn't human. It looked like it had wings.

"A winged monster," said Jeremy. "This is the castle. This is the castle from Odd's vision."

"Let's go for now," said Aelita. "There may be others and there are only the two of us."

Jeremy and Aelita turned and began flying away from the castle. Jeremy felt something behind them and looked over his shoulder.

"Oh, no! William!" Jeremy cried. "Let's go, Aelita!"

The two of them climbed high above the clouds. Did William see them? Was he following?

"We need to find a place to land," said Aelita.

"Uh," muttered Jeremy. "There!" He pointed to a residential section of the city. "We can hide there."

Jeremy and Aelita dove down and landed in a backyard.

"We should tell the others," said Jeremy. He tapped his specter band to activate his communicator, broadcasting to all the other specter bands. "Guys, we found the castle in Odd's vision."

"That's great," came Yumi's voice.

"Has anyone heard anything from Eva?" asked Kayla.

"I'm here," came Eva's rough voice.

"Hey, sis," said Odd. "Sounds like you were sleeping."

"I was," Eva whispered. "Keep it down. Where I am, the walls have ears and very good hearing."

"Are you hurt?" asked Kayla.

"Nothing I can't handle," Eva replied. "What's up?"

"William may have been chasing us," said Aelita. "We're hiding out in someone's backyard at the moment."

"We're close to the hotel," said Yumi. "It doesn't look like that XANA has sent anyone looking for us."

"XANA doesn't know where to look," said Jeremy. "Remember that Yin put the suite in a different name."

"That's good news," said Ulrich. "At least we have somewhere safe we can rely on."

"Don't jinx it," said Eva.

"Kayla and I are going to head back to the hotel," said Yumi.

"Be careful," said Jeremy. "Odd, Ulrich, where are you?"

"Lower Manhattan," answered Ulrich. "Where do you want us to go?"

"I'm not entirely sure where I am," said Eva. "If I was, I would tell you to meet up with me."

"Go back to the hotel with Yumi and Kayla," said Jeremy.

"What about you?" asked Ulrich.

"Hey, who's out there?" someone yelled.

Aelita and Jeremy gasped.

"What's going on?" Eva asked. "Jeremy? Aelita?"

"We gotta go," said Jeremy and he and Aelita turned their specter bands off.

Aelita and Jeremy hid in the bushes. A man came out with a shotgun. He was an older gentleman, slim with dark skin and gray hair.

"What should we do?" Aelita whispered.

"Not get shot sounds like a good idea," Jeremy replied with a nervous laugh.

The man came closer. Jeremy pushed Aelita back and she tripped and tumbled back into the bush.

"Come out!" shouted the man.

"Don't shoot!" Jeremy said, slowly emerging from the shadows.

Aelita followed Jeremy and stood behind him.

"Peter, put that gun down!" shouted a woman from the house.

The man lowered the gun. "What are you doing back there?"

"Hiding," answered Jeremy with a slight stutter.

"Uh-huh. From what?" the man asked.

"Some man was chasing us," said Aelita. "We got lost and hid. We thought it would be safer to wait until morning to go back to our hotel."

"It's two in the morning," said the man. "Your parents must be worried sick. Get in here and call them."

Aelita and Jeremy hurried inside, passed the woman who had yelled at the man. She was very pretty. She was a little on the plump side, had darker skin than the man, and her dark hair was beginning to turn gray. She wore bright colors and a kind smile. Something that Jeremy and Aelita noticed was her blue eyes.

"The telephone is in the living room," she said.

Jeremy went into the living room and picked up the receiver. He dialed Kayla's mobile. She picked it up on the second ring.

"Hello?"

"It's me," said Jeremy.

"What happened?" Kayla asked.

"We just got caught by the owners of the house," said Jeremy. "We're okay though. I don't think they are going to hurt us. I'll call you when we leave tomorrow morning."

"See ya," said Kayla.

Jeremy replaced the receiver and took a deep breath to calm himself. This day was just getting crazier every minute.

"Michael." Jeremy turned to see Aelita standing in the doorway. "Do you want something to eat?"

"Sure," replied Jeremy. He walked over to Aelita. "Michael?"

"Eva said not to use our real names," Aelita quietly explained.

"So what name are you going by?" Jeremy asked.

Aelita smiled. "The name you gave me when we first met."

Jeremy frowned. "Artificial Intelligence?"

Aelita giggled. "No, silly. Maya. You called me Maya before I remembered my real name."

Jeremy slapped his forehead. "That's right."

"Come on. Mrs. Maza said she'll give us something to eat."

Twenty minutes later Jeremy and Aelita were sitting at the dining room table with their first hot meal of the day. After the incident at Belvedere Castle, none of the LYOKO warriors felt like eating anything. After eating, Jeremy fell asleep on the sofa and Aelita began to fall asleep in an armchair. However, her nightmares kept her awake and she heard the Mazas speaking in the kitchen.

"Diane, something's going on with these kids," said Peter.

"So be it, Peter, but it's too early in the morning to do anything," said Diane. "If you want to call Elisa and tell her, go ahead."

"It's her night off," said Peter. "She's probably at the Eyrie Building with Goliath. She's been going there a lot lately."

"I remember that you came over a lot when we began dating," said Diane.

"This is different. She can't be in love with him. Can she?"

"Peter, if there is one thing we have learned through our lives is that love is blind," Diane said. "At least we know that Goliath can be trusted."

Aelita got up and went into the kitchen. "Excuse me? Where's the bathroom?"

"Upstairs, first door on your right," answered Diane.

Aelita went upstairs to the bathroom. She activated her specter band, calling Eva.

"Eva, are you there?" Aelita whispered.

"I'm here," replied Eva. "What's up?"

"We found where the castle is," Aelita said. "The Eyrie Building."

"Are you sure?" asked Eva.

"The people we're staying with started talking about their daughter," said Aelita. "What they were saying probably has no significance to others, but I think they were talking about the winged monster we saw."

"Keep me posted," said Eva. "I'm going to see what I can find out."

"Okay," said Aelita.

* * *

Eva got up and went downstairs. It was very early in the morning now and it sounded like Robbins's guest had left. But where were Robbins and Gilly? Eva hadn't heard them come upstairs and she was sure she would have if they did.

Eva found a telephone book in Braille, but none in everyday print. She sighed in exasperation, but nevertheless began to search for the address. Eva sat on the floor with the book in her lap. She knew some Braille, but not enough to read it. After twenty minutes Eva gave up and put the telephone book back.

"Rats," she muttered.

There was someone talking outside. Eva turned to see the French door was ajar. She went to the door and peered outside. On the terrace was Robbins, Gilly, and a winged monster. Eva quickly moved away from the window.

"I will visit tomorrow night if I can, Robbins," said the monster. It had the same voice Eva heard upstairs.

"Good-bye, Hudson," said Robbins.

The winged monster, Hudson, got a running start and jumped onto the high wall surrounding the property and took to the air.

Robbins turned and started for the door. Eva dashed for the stairs, her legs protesting, but she got to the top of the steps before Robbins had the door properly shut.

At first, Eva thought about calling Aelita or one of the others to tell them what she had just seen. But they were probably asleep by now. Instead, Eva went back to her room and tried to get some sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

**Now that some of the heat's off the LYOKO warriors, let's see how Yin is doing.**

Yin woke with a migraine. When she tried to move, she found that she was tied up. She pushed against the bonds that held her, but they did not break.

"Steel with silver plating," came Yang's voice.

Yin looked up to see her brother looking down at her. In the dim light his dark eyes had a red glow to them.

"Good luck getting out of them," Yang said.

Yin glared at him.

Yang chuckled and began to circle her. "You thought you killed me all those years ago, didn't you? I must say, I thought I was dead myself. Imagine my surprise when I woke up. It took a few days, but I managed to pull myself together."

"How?" asked Yin. "I thought I destroyed you. I know I did. I saw you shatter."

"That's what I thought, too," Yang said. "But stupid little you wanted to be all-powerful. You took a piece of me with you."

"No, I didn't," said Yin.

"What? You don't think I know about your ability to see the unseen?" Yang laughed. "That was my ability! I guess you weren't able to heal completely and you took a piece of me to regenerate."

"I didn't take anything," said Yin. "I didn't wake up until . . . " Yin stopped and felt like she was going to be sick. He didn't know, she couldn't have told him. He was just trying to help her. Yin felt her left eye burn.

"You knew," she breathed. "You knew what I was doing the whole time. You saw what I saw, you know all of my secrets."

"Every last one of them," said Yang. "I'm guessing whoever found you after our battle thought you couldn't heal your eye. I remember taking it out, by the way. They must have taken a piece of me and implanted it. Perhaps they thought it would just be a glass eye, but with us, with our powers, you turned it into flesh and blood."

Yang whipped around and grabbed Yin by the throat and squeezed. "So tell me, Yin Ocasta Inkwell de-Roux, how does it feel to be a part of my grand plan of a new world order?"

"Yang," croaked Yin, "you can't do this."

"I can and I will," Yang said. He threw Yin on the ground. "You don't understand. You cannot begin to fathom what I have been through."

Yin coughed. "What are you talking about?"

"You were always the one they talked about!" shouted Yang. "You were the one who was always the center of attention! 'Yin is so strong.' 'Yin's so talented.' 'Look what Yin did.' 'This from an Inkwell. Who would have thought.' It was always about you! Never once did they say anything about me!"

"You've lost it," said Yin. "Half the time they talked about me was because I was in trouble. If anything, you were the pride of our family, not me."

Yang opened his mouth and closed it again. Yin saw some good in his eyes for a brief moment, a piece of the brother she once knew.

"Yang, what happened to you?" asked Yin. "You always did the right thing. You always had the best grades, the best moves. When the dimensional guards accepted you into their ranks, you were so happy and Mother and Father were so proud. Then one day you went on a mission and you came back a different person. What happened to you?"

Yang blinked. A confused look came over his face. "Yin? What's going on?" There was something different about his voice. It was full of fear and confusion.

"Yang? What is going on?"

"Oh, blast," came a derogatory voice. Yin heard the snapping of fingers and Yang fell on his face. "You can only control someone for so long before they wake up. I'm surprised that it lasted this long. I thought when you fought Yang millennia ago, he would wake. What luck I had when that stupid man implanted one of his crystals in your body."

Yin watched a dark figure emerge from the shadows. He was tall, lean, and ugly. Yin could sense the dark energy within him.

"Little did you know that you became my spy," said the man.

"What have I done?" whispered Yin.

"You know me?" asked the man.

"Djinni Bane," answered Yin. "The black wish granter. They ordered your execution long before I or Yang were born."

"They hand out executions like candy on Halloween," Bane laughed. "All I did was what I was told to do. I granted a wish to a young man. It was within my limits. So someone died. Am I to blame?"

"After that the Dimensional Council commanded that all dimensional magic users were held to stricter laws," said Yin.

"And we see how well that works," said Bane.

"Why are you doing this?" Yin snapped. "What do you want?"

"Isn't it obvious by now? I want a world where I can do as I please," said Bane. "If that means I have to wipe out a few dimensions, fine."

"What about XANA?" asked Yin.

"The computer program? XANA is just a means to exterminate the inhabitants of this dimension. I was going to use the one where you and Yang had your battle, but I ran into some problems, mostly due to your little helpers. I'll have to deal with them myself."

Yin struggled against her bonds.

"Don't bother," said Bane. "You'll only hurt yourself. Anyway, I need a new pawn. Your brother is useless now that you are here."

"Never!" spat Yin. "I will never obey you!"

"We will see," said Bane. He laughed. "The famous Yin. It will be amusing to see you tamed."

Bane walked away, leaving Yang on the floor at Yin's feet. Yin could tell that Yang would be little use at this point. The mind control technique Bane had used was powerful and being under it for millennia let Yang weak. Yin seriously doubted that Yang would wake up in the next day or so.

Yin continued to struggle. She had to save the others. After a few minutes, Yin gave up and began to cry, something she hadn't done in a long time.

"Maj, I need help," Yin whispered between her sobs.

* * *

Maj watched Kiwi fetch the ball she had thrown. There wasn't much to the little dog, but he sure was a goof. Maj considered getting a pet for a long time, but never did. Now she wondered what all was needed to take care of a small dog.

"I would like to keep you," said Maj, patting Kiwi on the head and taking the ball from his mouth. She threw it across the room and watched Kiwi run after it. "But this is only temporary. As soon as Yin gets back, you're going home."

Maj wondered how Yin was doing. She had been acting strangely, but when was Yin ever normal? Something told her she should try to find Yin.

Maj walked up to the mirror and waved her hand. Nothing. Everything was black. Black was never a good sign, but without a location, Maj couldn't do anything to help Yin.

"You better be alive, Yin," said Maj.

* * *

**More and more drama. How will they get out of this one? Keep reading and find out.**


	9. Chapter 9

The sun was just coming up when Eva woke. She pulled herself out of bed and looked at her legs. Purple and painful, not a surprise. Eva got dressed, making sure she could pass for a boy and went downstairs to the kitchen. Eva made breakfast for herself and started the coffee maker.

Robbins came downstairs a half an hour later in a bathrobe.

"Ricky, is that you?" he called.

"Yes," replied Eva. "I made you breakfast. I can't make any other eggs except scrambled. I hope that's okay."

"That's fine," said Robbins.

Eva fixed a plate of food for Robbins and poured him a cup of coffee. She found him sitting in the living room in his chair. She gave him the food and went back to the kitchen to eat hers.

Her mobile vibrated in her pocket. Eva took it out and saw that she had a new text message from Kayla.

"Where are you?"

Eva quickly texted back.

"Still here. I'll see you soon."

She waited a moment. Her mobile vibrated again.

"C.U."

"L8R."

Eva tucked her mobile back into her pocket and finished her breakfast. She wondered why Kayla had texted her and not used their specter bands. Probably because it was easier to keep a text a secret than a conversation over the bands.

Now what to do next? Eva thought about what needed to be done. They needed to get to the castle and stop XANA from getting its virtual hands on that infant. Jeremy and Aelita had found the castle last night. Now they needed a plan.

"Ricky, where are you?" Robbins called.

"In the kitchen," said Eva. She got up from the table and hurried into the living room. "Do you need something?"

Robbins smiled. "I know you have your reasons, Ricky, but I would appreciate if you did not lie to me."

"Sorry," said Eva. "But it is better this way. Being blind, you can honestly say you never saw me, and by me keeping my name and my agenda a secret. You are safer in ignorance."

"Hmm."

"What?" asked Eva.

"I'm trying to figure out who you are," said Robbins. "You would make an interesting character for one of my stories. You are quiet, intelligent, strong. You do not let your pain slow you down."

Eva clenched her fist. He knew she was hurt.

"And something else. You seem almost feminine. You're a girl, aren't you?" Robbins had a smile on his face.

"And if I am?" asked Eva with a growl.

"Then you are," said Robbins with a shrug. "It makes no difference to me. I just want you to know that I may be old, but I am far from senile."

"Then be straight with me," said Eva. "Who is Hudson?"

"Did we wake you last night?" asked Robbins. "I'm sorry. I thought we were being quiet."

"I'm a very light sleeper."

"Hudson is a good friend of mine. I haven't known him for very long. Only two years. He is a very strange man. He only comes at night and does not like being caught in the daylight." Robbins listened carefully. "Ricky, if you think any harder, I'll be able to hear your thoughts. What are you thinking, anyway?"

Eva wasn't thinking about Hudson. She was staring out the window, her mouth agape. Walking along the beach was a young man with black hair in jeans and a jacket.

"William," breathed Eva.

"What?" asked Robbins.

"Mr. Robbins, do you own a car?" Eva asked.

Robbins laughed. "I've been blind for years," he said. "No, I don't own a car. Why? What's going on?"

"Put some clothes on," said Eva. "We have to leave now."

"Why?"

"No questions. Just do it."

Eva helped Robbins upstairs. Gilly, sensing something was wrong, followed. Eva grabbed some clothes for Robbins and handed them to him. She left and checked to see where William was. She grabbed the telephone and dialed the number for the Plaza.

"Hello?" came Odd's voice when the receptionist put her through.

"It's me, brother," said Eva. "William is here."

"What?" cried Odd. "Where are you?"

"Getting out of here," said Eva.

"What's going on?" Eva heard Kayla's voice.

"William's wherever she is," Odd replied.

"Odd, listen to me," said Eva. "I don't know where the Eyrie Building is. Call Aelita and Jeremy and tell them what's going on. Have them call me on my mobile. Using the bands for communications is not a good idea right now."

"What about you?" asked Odd.

"I'm going to try to get to the Eyrie Building," Eva said. "Getting in is going to be the problem."

"If anyone can do it, it's you, phantasm," said Odd. "Good luck, sis."

Eva hung up the phone.

"The Eyrie Building?" asked Robbins, coming out of his room. "The headquarters of Xanatos Enterprises? What is there?"

Eva looked out the window and saw William coming to the front door.

"Mr. Robbins, whatever happens, don't turn back to help me," said Eva.

"What?" asked Robbins.

There was a knock at the door.

"Don't answer it," said Eva. "Just wait."

After a minute, William left and continued his search.

"Let's go," said Eva.

She led Robbins downstairs and outside. Eva looked over her shoulder as they walked in the opposite direction of William. Eva purposely kept a few steps ahead of Robbins, Robbins giving Gilly the command to follow her.

"Okay, I think we're safe for now," said Eva.

"Now will you please tell me what is going on?" asked Robbins.

Eva looked around. She reached into her pocket and saw that she had a few dollars on her, enough for lunch but not enough for a cab ride. They needed a place to stay until she got word from one of the others.

"I'll do the best I can," said Eva. "But we need to keep moving."

* * *

Yin lifted her head when she heard a moan and a cough. Yang was waking up.

"Yang," she said.

"Yin?" Yang turned his head to look at her. "Are you okay?"

"No," said Yin. "And you are one to talk. All those years of being controlled by Bane. I'm surprised that you still have your sanity."

"My sanity is intact, sister dear," Yang murmured. "I grew up with you, remember?"

Yin laughed weakly. "Yeah. I don't know how we are going to get out of this one though."

"Bane is cunning," said Yang. "I don't think there is anything we can think of that he didn't think of first. He's watched you through me. He still is."

"He doesn't have you to tell him," said Yin.

"But he has another piece of my crystal," said Yang.

Yin sighed. If Bane had a piece of Yang's crystal body, he could use Yin's left eye and Yang's eyes to see what was going on.

"This sucks," said Yin. "This is what I hate about our kind."

"But that was not our choice," said Yang. "Being the crystal beings that we are, all we need is one part of our bodies to survive to keep us alive. Whoever saved you, saved me. I must thank them some day."

"If we get out of this, I will make sure that you meet him," said Yin.

"If," repeated Yang glumly.

An idea crossed Yin's mind. "Yang, you said that Bane had a piece of your crystal. Do you know if he implanted that crystal?"

"Of course I know," answered Yang. "He did implant it. In his eye. It has granted him the power to see the unseen."

"The same power your crystal gave me," sighed Yin. "Yang, you have that power still, right?"

"Yes," answered Yang. "I don't know what you are getting at."

"And it allows you to see what he sees?"

"Yes, but what good does that do for us? He still can use us to see our plans."

"Right, he can see," said Yin. "He can't hear. What if he didn't have a way to see us?" There was a mischievous look in her eyes, one that warned others that she was planning something that would seem insane to other people.

"Yin," Yang said, smiling. "I haven't seen that look in your eyes since we were children."

"And there's a chance that we might not be seeing anything for a few minutes," said Yin. "Can you move at all?"

"Yes," replied Yang, pulling himself up on his elbows. He crawled to his sister's side. "What do you need me to do?"

"Take the dagger out of my waistband," said Yin.

Yang fumbled with the chains for a moment so he could get to her dagger.

"All right," said Yang. "Now what?"

"It's my left eye," said Yin.

"What?" asked Yang.

"Time to think outside of the box," said Yin. She laughed. "I love this about our kind."

Yang stared at her like she was insane. "You mean?" Yin nodded. Yang smiled. "You're mad."

"Just make sure when you're done that you close your eyes and don't open them," said Yin.

Yang pulled himself up on his knees and cupped Yin's face in one hand.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"Don't be," Yin said. "I'm not."

* * *

Jeremy got the call about Eva just as the Mazas were getting up. He woke Aelita and they went about their business like there was nothing wrong.

"Do you think she's okay?" asked Aelita.

"It's Eva," said Jeremy. "I'm sure she is."

"We should get back with the others," said Aelita.

"When?" asked Jeremy. "The Mazas will know we're gone."

"We have to," said Aelita. "We're stronger together. That means we need Eva, too." Aelita pulled out her mobile and sent a text message to Eva.

"Meet us back at Plaza," it read.

"Okay," came the reply.

Aelita and Jeremy got their things together and waited until the Mazas were occupied. They ducked out the front door and began to run down the street.

"We haven't a clue where we are," said Jeremy.

"We'll find a way," said Aelita. She checked her pockets. "How much money do you have?"

"Not much," replied Jeremy.

"I think there's enough between us to get back to the Plaza," said Aelita. She hailed a taxi. "It's the fastest way."

Jeremy and Aelita got into the taxi.

"I hope they're okay," said Kayla, pacing the room.

The door to the room opened and Jeremy and Aelita entered.

"Look who's here!" cried Odd. "Mr. and Mrs. Einstein, how nice of you to drop by."

"Where's Eva?" asked Kayla.

"She's not here?" asked Jeremy. "I was sure she would make it here before us."

There was a knock on the door. The six of them looked at each other. The knock came again.

"Kayla?"

The six of them raced to the door and nearly yanked the door off its hinges.

"Eva!" screamed Kayla, throwing her arms around her. "You're okay!"

"Uh," said Jeremy. "Who's this?"

"This is Jeffrey Robbins," said Eva. "He's the one who helped me last night."

"How much does he know?" asked Jeremy.

"Just about everything," said Eva. "I had to tell him. William showed up on his doorstep. We pretended like no one was home, but I think it only bought us some time."

"We almost had an encounter with William last night, too," said Jeremy.

"He was probably looking for me to see if they had killed me," said Eva. She pulled up her pants to show the bruises. "Specter forms are invincible. I got hit by a car and I was only knocked out. My band was running out of power at the time, too."

"Imagine what the seven of us can do together at full strength," said Ulrich.

"And we have the element of surprise," said Yumi. "William's been searching for Eva all night. He probably thinks she's dead."

"Way to go, phantasm," said Odd.

"So what now?" asked Yumi.

"Jeremy and I found where those monsters are," said Aelita. "The Eyrie Building. There's a castle that sits on top of the skyscraper."

"The headquarters of Xanatos Enterprises," said Eva.

"All we need is a way to get in," said Ulrich.

"The place is guarded like Fort Knox," said Robbins. "Xanatos Enterprises deals with security systems and weaponry. It's the home to David Xanatos himself. No expense was spared on security."

"Nothing the Einsteins can't handle," said Odd.

They turned to Aelita and Jeremy.

"Maybe I can get a layout of the castle," said Jeremy. "If the specter bands work as well as Eva says, getting into the castle will be easy."

"And if it's easy for us, XANA will have no trouble at all," said Aelita.

"Yeah, but what do we do when we get there?" asked Ulrich.

"Something tells me that we won't be bored," said Odd.

* * *

**Take a wild guess at what Yin is planning. I'm doing my best to keep this rated T, so I can only hint at what is going on. New chapters will be up soon. In the meantime, review or send a PM. I would like to know what you think.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Fair warning: this chapter gets slightly gory, but it just shows how crazy Yin can be when things get rough. Enjoy and review.**

* * *

Maj sat by the mirror. Kiwi was quiet for the moment. In the silence of Draco Castle, Maj heard something. It wasn't audible to anyone, but Maj.

"Magicfire Light Sworena de-Draco Regalis."

There was no mistaking it. It was Yin's voice. Never once had she called Maj by her full name, the way to summon a dimensional guard.

Maj ran to the armory. She put on a gold dress and red breeches, gauntlets and boots of gold and a breastplate with the emblem of the Draco Regalis: a golden dragon spewing crimson fire. She hid several throwing knives in her boots and took a broadsword from its place on the wall.

As she was leaving, Maj stopped and looked at the section of the armory that held all of Yin's weapons and armor. There was a violet staff with a blue crystal orb at one end and a blade at the other. Maj took the staff and ran back into the mirror room.

Kiwi woke up and got to his feet. Maj closed the doors to the mirror room behind her and locked it. She took her key from under her dress and armor and held it out.

"Don't you dare piddle," Maj said to Kiwi.

She opened a portal and stepped into it.

There was nothing but darkness on the other side a power that made Maj shiver.

"You heard me."

Maj looked down to see Yin tied up with some sort of silver chain. She kneeled down and broke the chains.

"Thanks," said Yin, raising her head.

Maj gasped. "What happened to your eye?" she asked.

There was blood running down Yin's cheek. Her left eye appeared to be gone and a red stone was laying at Maj's foot.

"Yang, how ya holding up?" Yin asked.

Maj turned around to see Yang laying on the floor. His face was also covered in blood and two red stones laid in front of him.

"What?" asked Maj.

"Maj, it's Bane," said Yin.

"What?" she cried. "Djinni Bane? I thought he was dead."

"He's very much alive," said Yin. "Oh, meet my brother, Yang."

"I thought you were dead," said Maj, turning to Yin's twin.

"Almost," Yang said.

"What now?" asked Maj.

"Right now, I do something crazy," answered Yin.

"Cutting out our eyes wasn't crazy enough?" asked Yang.

Maj whirled around to look at Yin. "You cut your eyes out? You have lost it, Yin."

"Not yet," Yin grunted.

She picked up the dagger on the floor and raised it to her left eye socket. It was already beginning to regenerate. When it was almost complete, Yin removed it, leaving a sapphire crystal. She did this again. The third time she regenerated it fully. With her two crystals, she held them up to Yang's empty sockets.

Maj looked away as Yin replaced Yang's eyes.

"Yin, I don't think I can get them to take," he said. "I'm too weak."

"Here," said Maj. She covered Yang's eyes with her gloved hands.

There was a flash of gold light and Maj removed her hand. Yang opened his eyes. They were now a blue so dark that they looked black.

"Hopefully you have some of my power now," said Yin. "Let's get out of here."

Maj and Yin pulled Yang to his feet.

"You are not going anywhere," came Bane's voice. "I have turned this airship into a labyrinth. It will become your tomb if you do not get out in twelve hours."

"No problem," said Maj. "We'll use my key." She took it out and gave it a flick. Nothing happened. "What's going on?"

"Your keys won't work here," laughed Bane.

"Then we will find another way out," said Yin.

"Good luck," said Bane. His laughter faded.

"How hard can this be?" asked Maj.

"He's given us twelve hours," said Yang. "There is a reason for that. He created this airship and he made it so no one could escape."

"Well," said Yin with a laugh. "We have twelve hours. Let's use them."

The three of them left the room they were in and started down the corridor. The door of the room they just left slammed behind them without anyone touching it. The sound echoed and caused all three of them to jump.

Maj laughed nervously. "Just the door."

"Yeah, the door," said Yin.

"That's probably the only sound that will bring us any sort of comfort for the next twelve hours," said Yang.

"Why do you say that?" asked Yin.

Yang swallowed hard. "If I know Bane, he's going to put us through hell."

* * *

"Are you done yet?" Odd asked for the fifth time in twenty minutes.

"No, Odd," replied Jeremy, more than a little irritated. "I will tell you when I have something."

Kayla turned to Robbins. "Can I get you anything?" she asked.

"No, I'm fine," said Robbins.

Ulrich, Aelita, and Yumi were watching television and Eva was reading a magazine.

"You know, they aren't monsters," said Robbins.

"What aren't?" asked Kayla.

"The gargoyles," replied Robbins. Everyone turned their attention to Robbins. "I've known that there was something different from Hudson the day I met him. It was later that I learned that he was a gargoyle."

The seven of them exchanged looks.

"If the gargoyles are the good guys," Ulrich started.

"Then they are what is standing between XANA and the child," finished Kayla.

"We have to stop it," said Yumi.

"And we will," said Jeremy with a smile. "I just pulled up the blueprints of Xanatos Enterprises."

"You are a genius," said Odd.

"Is there anything we can use? A vent duct, a service elevator?" asked Kayla.

"Not really," said Jeremy. "There aren't many blind spots and I can't disable the security systems from here."

"Then we'll have to, Jeremy," said Aelita. "I know I can get in, but you should be able, too, with your powers."

"What about us?" asked Odd. "You can get passed anything electronic, but what if we get separated? We don't want to spook anyone too soon."

"Odd's right," said Yumi.

"Then go in through the roof," said Eva. "It's not the most ideal plan, but it's a plan. If you can't get passed security, go out a window and up."

"Okay," said Ulrich. "Jeremy and Aelita can disable the security systems when we are inside. But how do we get inside?"

"Eva?" Kayla said. "You've done stuff like this before. Any suggestions?"

"Stuff like this before?" asked Odd.

Eva shook her head. "You don't want to know. In answer to your question, Kayla, the employees have to go home at some point. We wait until the offices are empty and then there is only the security guards to worry about."

"And then what?" asked Kayla. She looked at Eva's stern face. "You can't be serious."

"Rather us or XANA," said Eva. "Which would you rather choose?"

Kayla winced and went into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

"Is she going to be okay?" asked Ulrich.

"Give a few minutes," said Eva. "Kayla's never been one for fighting. The monsters are one thing. An innocent is different."

"What about you?" asked Yumi.

"I look at it the same way you do," said Eva. "For the greater good, we must do it."

"So we play the waiting game," said Ulrich.

"So you know, the gargoyles will try to stop you," said Robbins.

"Mr. Robbins, I've been hit by a car," said Eva. "It cannot be any worse than that."

"XANA cannot win," said Aelita.

"And it won't," said Eva.

* * *

They weren't sure how much time had gone by, but they knew they were running out of time. With Yang between them, Maj and Yin walked about the airship looking for an exit. It was not going so well. Every door they looked behind had either a trap or led them in circles.

"Now I see why Bane gave us twelve hours," said Yin.

"He's probably watching us," said Yang. "He's like that."

"How long has it been?" asked Maj.

"I don't know," said Yin. "It's been three hours at the very least, maybe more. We don't have any way of telling. It's not like he left us a timer."

"Haven't we been this way before?" asked Maj.

Yin looked at the wall. There was a gouge in the metal. Yin had left it to mark where they had been.

"Yes," Yang answered for Yin. Yin looked at her brother. "Yin, I carry a part of you. Two parts actually. I know what you are thinking."

Yin smiled at Yang. "Then you know what else I'm thinking."

Yang nodded.

"What?" Maj asked. "If you've forgotten, I'm not part of the whole hive mind thing you have going on."

"Bane's smart," said Yin. "How much do you want to bet that he created a labyrinth with no exit?"

"What?" Maj was horrified. "We can't escape at all?"

"I didn't say that," said Yin. "We may have to make our own exit. Instead of finding a door, let's find an exterior wall. Maj, you can sense heat. The exterior walls will be warmer than the interior, at least until the sun sets."

Maj nodded and her reptilian eyes flashed. "This way," she said, pulling Yang down a corridor.

"Yin," Yang said.

"Yes?" asked Yin, helping him.

"I'm sorry," said Yang.

"Don't be," said Yin. "Bane is to blame."

"Speaking of Bane," said Maj, "why is he here? Why not another dimension? I'm sure there are others that would fall easily."

"It's not a matter of falling easily," said Yin. "You have heard of Queen Titania of the Third Race?"

"Yes," replied Maj. "Most guards have heard the stories."

"Bane's after her grandson," said Yin.

"Grandson?" Maj repeated stupidly.

"Her grandson is one quarter fey," Yang enlightened. "And he is only an infant. If Bane gets his hands on him, he could turn the grandson into an apprentice and become invincible."

Maj turned to Yin. "That's why you ran out so quickly. You knew."

"I didn't want you to get involved," said Yin. "I knew what I was doing was going to get in trouble. Not to be mean, but you would not do well in the stockade."

"Ladies, let's discuss this later," said Yang. "We need to get out of here."

"Maj, how much power to you have?" Yin asked.

"I'm at full power," Maj replied. "Why? Do you have an idea of getting out of here?"

"No," answered Yin. She lowered Yang to the floor. "You need to heal Yang."

"What? Yin, no," Yang protested. "You need to save your strength."

"And what about you?" asked Yin. "We need all the help we can get. Why do you think I sent the LYOKO warriors ahead of us? They will protect the baby long enough from XANA until we get there to stop Bane."

"How?" asked Yang. "Seven humans and three dimensional guards are not going to be enough to stop him. I know; I've been under his control. He knows all of our moves, all of our secrets."

"Then it's time for new moves and new secrets," said Yin. "Maj, heal him now."

"But what about you?" Yang argued. "You're too weak. Those chains drained your energy."

Yin and Maj exchanged glances. Maj kneeled in front of Yang and began to heal him. Yin stood up and looked around.

"You know," Yin said, "you need to be insane to understand the insane. Being rational is not going to help us. This labyrinth, it doesn't make sense. Doors to nowhere, traps, the back to start spaces."

"What are you saying?" asked Maj.

"Let's not be rational," said Yin with a smile.

Yang got to his feet. "I'm confused."

"Good," said Yin. "I'm not."

Yin began to run down the corridor, throwing open every door she passed. Some were bricked up, some had flamethrowers behind them or shot arrows. There was one that had no trap, but led to another level of the airship. Yin entered that one with Maj and Yang on her heels. She leapt back, pushing them out the door and in the corridor.

"What was that about?" asked Maj.

"Look," said Yin.

The three of them looked around. The corridor changed before their eyes to reveal a room.

"Okay, this is odd," said Maj.

"No, it's not," said Yin. "The doors close behind us. We've been so focused on finding a way out that we never bothered to double back. I think Bane enchanted the airship to keep us from escaping using our keys, but he would have to get out some how or he would be in the same mess we are. The labyrinth is to keep us confused as we keep moving forward. When we step through the doors, the corridors change and send us to another part of the airship. There's some serious tech on this thing. I wouldn't be surprised if there are elevators in every room and motioned activated holograms. But it takes a few seconds before everything resets itself. A few seconds is all we need."

"So we don't have to set off the traps," said Maj.

"Now all we have to do is keep the corridors changing until we find the way out," said Yang.

"Not entirely," said Yin. "Now we're stuck. We can keep tricking the computer, but we aren't moving. We need to overload the system."

"How?" asked Maj. "I don't think one computer controls everything. Bane's not stupid enough to rely on just one plan."

"You're right," said Yin. "Yang, what do you think?"

Yang thought a moment before answering. "If what you say is really the case, I would say there is a computer that controls the ship itself, one that controls the elevators, and one to control the holograms. Everything is controlled by motion sensors."

"Interesting," said Yin. "Maj, may I have my staff?"

Maj handed Yin the violet staff. "What are you doing?" she asked as they watched Yin run her hand across the corridor wall.

"If I were a motion sensor, where would I be?" Yin asked.

"Right inside the door," answered Yang. "So when you open the door the trap would be ready to activate."

"Yep," said Yin. She raised her staff and plunged the bladed end through the wall next to a doorframe. Electricity sparked for a moment and stopped. Yin opened the door safely. "Come look."

Yang and Maj looked into the room and saw nothing but empty space. There was an air vent in the ceiling. Yin knocked it open with her staff. The three of them looked up to see thick cables leading up a long shaft.

"An elevator," said Maj.

Yin turned to Yang. "What level is the control room on?"


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry to tell you, but I left you hanging with Yin, Yang, and Maj. You'll just have to keep reading to find out what happens to them.**

* * *

It was five o'clock and most people were getting off work. The LYOKO warriors were going to work on the other hand. For the past hour, one of them would walk around the block, casing the building.

"How's it looking?" Yumi said, lifting her wrist to her ear, her mobile hidden in her sleeve.

"So far so good," came Ulrich's voice, slightly muffled by the shirt's fabric. "Odd, anything?"

"Good on my end. What about you, sunshine?"

"May I say that I do not like this plan one bit," Kayla's irked voice came.

"We know," said Odd. "Phantasm?"

"Just say the word," Eva said.

"Jeremy, Aelita?" Yumi called.

Jeremy had his laptop out and was typing frantically. Aelita stood in front of him to hide what he was doing.

"Okay, I have the security cameras out front deactivated," said Jeremy. "We don't have long. Go now!"

Kayla and Eva entered the Eyrie Building, activating their specter bands to their Jeremy-fied forms. The security guard looked up from his desk.

"Hey! You can't be in here!" he yelled.

Eva extended her hand let an electric shock fly from it. The security guard flew back in his chair and landed on the floor behind the desk.

"Eva!" squealed Kayla, covering her mouth.

Eva continued for the elevators.

"Eva, did you have to hit him so hard?" Kayla asked, keeping on her friend's heels.

"It wasn't that hard," Eva said. "No different from getting tased. We'll worry about him later."

Kayla knew Eva was right. They couldn't worry about the people they came across at the moment. The only thing they could do for them was to make sure they stayed out of the way so they didn't get hurt, or worse.

Kayla bit her lip as she pushed the emergency stop button on the elevator. Eva turned to her, her face almost expressionless.

"Jeremy, we're ready," Eva said.

"Okay," Jeremy said. "Ulrich, Odd, Yumi, go."

Yumi, Odd, and Ulrich entered using a fire exit. Jeremy and Aelita went in through another on the other side of the building.

"Ready, Aelita?" Jeremy asked as Aelita activated her LYOKO form.

"Ready," she said.

Jeremy activated his LYOKO form and they headed for the surveillance room. They found the room and knocked out the guards. Jeremy turned off the cameras and disabled the alarm.

"The alarm is disabled," said Jeremy.

"Okay," said Kayla.

Eva and Kayla activated their LYOKO forms. Kayla gave Eva a boost and she opened the hatch and climbed out of the elevator. Eva pulled Kayla up and they began to climb the elevator cables.

Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi took the separate emergency stairwells up to the top.

"Jeremy, any activity upstairs?" asked Ulrich.

"None that I can see," said Jeremy. "Eva, Kayla, where are you?"

"We're almost there," said Kayla.

"Ugh, I don't know why I'm taking each stair," said Odd. He perched himself on the handrail and jumped up to the next level. "This is much faster."

"I think this is our floor," said Eva.

Kayla reached out to the door in front of her and pried it open with one hand. Eva and Kayla hopped out of the elevator shaft and into the castle.

"We're in," said Eva.

"Now what?" asked Kayla.

"Find the baby," said Eva. "Jeremy, where's the nursery?"

"I can't tell from here," said Jeremy. "The castle surveillance system isn't hooked up with the building's system."

"Maybe I can find out," said Aelita.

She rested her hands on the computer. Her hands sparked and the screens went snowy. A moment later they showed a stone corridor of the castle.

"There," Aelita said, pointing to a door. "That's the nursery. It's in the east wing and you need to go up a floor."

"Let's go," said Eva.

Eva and Kayla listened to Aelita as she guided them through the castle.

Meanwhile, Odd, Yumi, and Ulrich reached the top of the skyscraper and entered the castle.

"Where to next, Einstein?" asked Odd.

"Kayla and Eva are going after the baby," said Jeremy. "Make sure that XANA isn't already there."

"This is it," said Eva.

Kayla opened the door a crack and saw no one but the baby inside. He was sleeping in his crib. Kayla entered and Eva stood guard outside the door.

"Hey, little guy," Kayla cooed.

Eva turned and saw Ulrich in his LYOKO form walking up to her.

"Jeremy sent me to help you," Ulrich said.

"Not much to do," said Eva. "Kayla and I've got this."

"Hey, Eva, where are you?" came Ulrich's voice through the specter band.

Eva swung and missed and got the wind knocked out of her when "Ulrich" slammed his foot into her stomach.

"What's going on?" Kayla asked, running to the door. She saw Ulrich and was about to ask him if he was crazy when she saw XANA's mark in his eyes.

"Kayla, run!" yelled Eva.

Kayla grabbed the baby and ran, leaving Eva to deal with this copy of her friend.

"Jeremy, something weird's going on," said Kayla as she ran. "Ulrich's attacking Eva!"

"No, I'm not," said Ulrich. "I don't know where Eva is."

"It's a polymorph," said Jeremy. "It can take the form of anyone."

"Where's Eva?" demanded Ulrich.

"Outside the nursery," said Jeremy. "Ulrich, go help Eva. Yumi, find Kayla. She has the baby and she may need help."

"We should go," said Aelita. "These guards will be waking up any minute."

"You're right," said Jeremy.

The two of them left and headed upstairs to help their friends.

* * *

The polymorph slammed Eva's head against the stone floor. She almost blacked out, but was able to dodge its sword strike. Eva planted her foot in the polymorph's chest and sent it flying down the corridor. She sprang to her feet and fired a power pulse attack. The polymorph evaded the attack and dashed up to Eva, striking her in the ribs and knocking her to the floor.

The real Ulrich came to her rescue and the two of them began duking it out.

Eva pulled herself up to see the two Ulrichs fighting. She was about to attack as well, but she couldn't tell her friend from her enemy.

The Ulrichs carried their battle into the great hall of the castle, kicking, slashing, and punching. They were evenly matched.

Eva stood in the doorway of the hall, holding her hands out so she could attack. Her power pulse power would be cut in half, but it would still knock them down. She looked to her left and her right. She couldn't tell them apart. Her head throbbed from being smacked off the stone floor and she couldn't think straight.

"Eva, blast him! He's the fake!"

"No, he is!"

"Eva, I know you know it's me!"

"Shut up!" Eva shouted.

Both Ulrichs fell silent, each looking at her with a pleading look. Eva was so confused. She could blast them both, but that wouldn't prove anything. She couldn't divide the power because it wouldn't destroy the polymorph and if she did guess and guessed wrong, Ulrich would be in serious trouble.

"Oh, help," Eva muttered.

"Eva, it's me. You know it's me," said the Ulrich to her left. "You know your friends. He's the fake." He pointed to the Ulrich on her right.

Eva turned to the other Ulrich.

"You know what to do," said the other Ulrich. His lips moved, but no sound came out. No sound was needed. Eva knew what he said.

Eva fired a power pulse at full strength at the Ulrich on her left. His body flickered and disappeared. Eva sank to her knees on the verge of tears. She was shaking terribly, her breath coming in gasps.

"You okay?" asked Ulrich.

"I never want to do that again," said Eva. She looked up at Ulrich. "I'm glad you remembered I told you."

"I'm glad that you remembered you told me," said Ulrich. "For a moment I didn't know what to do, then I remembered what you told me your sister used to call you. Gotta love that memory, huh, Eva-phant?"

Eva got to her feet and calmed down. "Let's find Kayla."

* * *

"Kayla!"

Kayla turned to see Yumi running up to her.

"Are you okay?" Yumi asked.

Kayla nodded. "Yes."

They looked at the baby Kayla was carrying. He was as still as a sleeping baby could be.

"How can he sleep like this?" asked Yumi. "You would think that some of the noise would have woken him up."

"I was wondering the same thing," said Kayla. "It's like he knows I'm not going to hurt him."

"What now?" asked Yumi.

"I don't dare leave the castle with him," said Kayla. "We could be charged with kidnapping."

"And the last thing we want to do is hurt this family," Yumi said. "Let's find someplace we can hide him until it's safe."

"Good idea," said Kayla.

* * *

Ulrich and Eva raced through the corridors trying to find Kayla. Something struck Eva in the shoulder and she devirtualized, her body falling to the stone floor with a loud thump. Ulrich turned around and saw a kankerlot. He dashed up to it and cut it in half.

"You okay?" he asked Eva.

Eva picked herself up, straightening her sweatshirt. "I'm fine," she answered.

They continued on their way until they saw someone in the corridor. All of them froze, staring at each other. Ulrich and Eva were looking at a man with blond hair, glasses, dressed in a blue suit.

"I do not know how you got in here," he said with a deadpan voice. "But we do not take kindly to intruders."

"Any ideas?" Ulrich whispered.

"Yeah," replied Eva. "Let me handle him."

"You sure?" Ulrich asked.

Eva nodded slightly. "I know my limits. At the moment, I'm useless to the mission. The very least I can do is delay him."

"Good luck," said Ulrich and ran off.

Eva and the man continued their stare down.

"So," Eva said, breaking the silence between them, "how do you want to do this?"

"Meaning?"

"I'm not backing down. You're not backing down. It seems to me that we're at an impasse. So what I mean is do you want a fair fight, or do you want me to plant you on your backside?"

"That is a lot of talk for someone so small," the man said.

Eva smirked. She lifted the back of her sweatshirt. The man flinched. Eva pulled her hunting knife from her waistband and threw it down the corridor behind her.

"That was not the sensible thing to do," said the man, with a smile playing on his lips. "Now you have no weapon."

"Why? Do you have one?" Eva asked.

"As a matter of fact, I do!" He pulled a small gun from his jacket pocket and fired at Eva. The shot hit right at her feet.

"Laser, huh?" said Eva.

"As I said, throwing your knife away was not the sensible thing to do," the man said, taking aim at Eva's chest.

Eva snickered.

"What's so funny?" asked the man.

Eva shrugged. "Sometimes, being sensible is just not sensible."

The man took careful aim, but Eva rushed him, moving in such a way that the man had never seen before. Eva had the gun out of his hand and him sprawling on the floor. He swung and missed as Eva leapt off of him and flipped a few steps back, far from the man's reach.

The man rushed up to Eva and tried to hit her, but she simply bent over backwards, planted her hands firmly on the floor and brought her feet up, catching the man's chin. Eva hopped back a few more steps. The man reached for something in his jacket. Finding nothing, he looked at Eva.

"Looking for this?" she asked, holding up the man's mobile. "What's wrong? Can't handle getting beat?"

The man got to his feet and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Now, let's fight," said Eva.

Eva came at him again, this time leaping into the air and spinning, her foot connecting with the man's head. She came around again and kicked him in the stomach. He reached out and grabbed her, slamming his knee into her stomach, knocking all of the air out of Eva. He punched her in the face once, twice, three times. The man let Eva fall to the floor.

"I expected this," said the man. "You talk a lot, but you do not have the skill to back up those words."

Eva whipped around and knocked the man's feet out from under him. Eva rolled backwards and got to her feet, remaining in a crouching position.

"You were saying?" she said, allowing the man to sit up.

Eva got up and planted one final vicious kick to the face. The man went down hard. Eva stood over him. He was still conscious, but not by much.

"Not bad," she said. "What's your name?"

"My name?" he asked. Eva nodded. "Owen Burnett."

Eva bowed. "Thank you for the fight, Mr. Burnett."

She started to walk away. "Wait. What is your name?" the man asked.

Eva looked over her shoulder. "Maverick," she replied and kept walking.

She turned the corner and heard a scream. Eva knew whose it was. It was Kayla's. Eva began racing toward the sound, praying that she got there in time. But before she got to the next corridor, something struck her in the back of the head.

* * *

Kayla screamed. She screamed because Yumi was hit hard by a block and she wasn't getting up. Kayla couldn't fight because she had the baby in her hands.

The block suddenly exploded.

Odd stood behind her. "You okay, sunshine?" he asked.

"I'm fine," said Kayla. "I don't know about Yumi."

"Yumi," Odd called, kneeling over her.

Kayla handed the baby to Odd. "Hold him," she commanded. She began checking Yumi's vitals. Yumi stirred and opened her eyes. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," muttered Yumi, sitting up and rubbing her head.

"Are you guys okay?" Ulrich dashed up to them.

"We're okay," said Kayla.

"Where's Eva?" asked Yumi.

"Buying us some time," said Ulrich. "We ran into some trouble. The owner now knows we are here."

"Has anyone heard anything from Aelita or Jeremy?" Yumi asked.

"Not since he told me to find you," said Ulrich.

"I hope they're okay," said Kayla.

* * *

Aelita and Jeremy were trying their hardest to destroy the group of kankerlots that had surrounded them. Aelita had to give Jeremy credit. He was doing well for a rookie. For someone who spent his time in front of a computer, Jeremy had very good aim.

"Not bad," Aelita said after the last kankerlot was destroyed.

"Thanks," said Jeremy. "I didn't think I could do it."

"It's easy once you get the hang of it," said Aelita.

"Hey, Einstein, what's going on?" Odd's voice came from Jeremy's band.

"We ran into a little trouble," said Jeremy.

"Well we have a bit of a problem," said Odd. "We have the kid, but we don't know where to go."

"We're heading up your way now," Jeremy said. "Can you get to the roof? If we need to, we can make a quick escape."

"Okay," said Odd.

"So what do you think?" asked Aelita. "Should we call Yin?"

"I don't know," said Jeremy. "We didn't think this far ahead. Do you think Eva will have any ideas?"

Aelita answered by calling Eva's band. There was no answer. Something happened that Eva wasn't answering.

"That's not good," said Jeremy.

"Come on," said Aelita. "She's smart. She knows to go to the roof if there's trouble."

Jeremy and Aelita hurried to the roof. The weather had turned nasty while they were inside. The sun was beginning to set and the clouds were gathering. It would begin to rain soon.

Jeremy and Aelita came out one door and Kayla, Yumi, Odd, and Ulrich came out another.

"Where's Eva?" Jeremy called.

"We don't know," said Odd. "She was taking care of some business and we haven't heard from her since."

"What should we do now?" asked Kayla.

The baby in her arms was sleeping peacefully. He hadn't made a sound since they left the nursery.

Odd zoned out. Before him he saw the stone gargoyles on the tower turned to flesh and blood.

"Odd!" Yumi shook his shoulder.

Odd shook his head, clearing his brain of the image.

"What did you see?" asked Aelita.

"Those statues," Odd said, pointing to the tower, "they're going to wake up and they are not going to be happy."

"What?" cried the others.

"Those are the gargoyles," said Odd. "They sleep during the day. The sun's about to go down. We got to get out of here."

"You aren't going anywhere."

They turned to see William, an evil smile on his face and his sword resting on his shoulder. He was standing on a manta, watching them.

"Give me the baby," William demanded.

"What do you want with him?" asked Yumi, stepping in front of Kayla, the others following her lead.

"I'm just following orders," said William. "XANA wants the baby, and it will get the baby. Now, hand him over!"

"No!" yelled Kayla.

William brought up his sword and swung hard. A blade of energy came at them, causing the LYOKO warriors to scatter.

Jeremy raised his gun and fired, missing William, but shooting the manta in the wing. William snarled and turned to Jeremy. The manta turned and fired at Jeremy, hitting him in the chest and sending him flying into a stone wall.

"You always did better in the classroom," said William. "This is no place for you, Belpois."

Kayla crouched low with the baby in her arms. Yumi jumped in front of her, fans at the ready.

"It'll be okay," said Yumi.

"Not for you," said William. He turned to the tower. "And certainly not for them!"

The manta William was riding turned sharply and began firing at the gargoyles.

"No!" Odd yelled.

In the confusion he had managed to get to the top of the tower. He fired three laser arrows and was shot in the chest. His arrows hit the manta and William fell hard on the stone wall. Odd tumbled backwards and was devirtualized.

Now the baby began crying.

"Now where was I?" William said. "Oh, yes. The baby."

A woman with red hair and a man with long brown hair pulled into a ponytail ran outside. There was another man behind them, this one looking like he just got out of a fight. He whipped his glasses off, put them in his pocket and began spinning like a top. Seconds later, an elf shot toward William.

William saw him and hit him with an energy blast. A chain then wrapped around the elf, pinning his arms to his sides. The elf cried out in pain.

"I was warned about you," William said. "You are the one they call Puck, yes?"

The elf looked up between strands of long white hair. His face was contorted with pain, but his blue eyes screamed that he had yet begun to fight.

Aelita looked at the chained up elf. Her father had told her stories about elves when she was little. Aelita even named the stuffed doll she had gotten for Christmas Mr. Puck. If there was one thing elves did not like, it was iron. Aelita was willing to bet that's what William had just tied him up with.

Black smoke surrounded the elf and he was lifted to William's side. "Now, I'm going to give you a choice," William said to Kayla. Before he could say anything else, another shot was fired at William, this one missing his head by a fraction of an inch. William turned and sliced the air with his sword, striking Jeremy and devirtualizing him. "That's enough out of you."

"Jeremy!" cried Aelita, running over to him.

"Now, listen carefully," said William. "I am only going to say this once. You, my dear, have a choice to make."

William pointed to something and black smoke brought it beside the elf.

"Eva!" screamed Kayla.

"Here is the choice you have to make," said William. "You either give me the baby willingly and you save your friend. Or you don't, I drop them both, and I take the baby by force. So, what's it going to be?"

Kayla stared horror-struck at William. Her eyes moved to her friend. Eva was looking back at her with that determined, defiant look that told her not to do it.

"We can't give him the kid," hissed Yumi. "He'll kill them anyway."

"We just need to get that elf free," said Aelita. "If he drops them both, Eva's specter band will activate and she'll be strong enough to break those chains."

Jeremy groaned. "Eva has already been devirtualized once already. If she activates her specter band, she'll only have a few seconds, if it activates at all."

"A few seconds is all she'll need," said Ulrich.

"It could kill her!" Jeremy said.

"Hey," Eva whispered to the elf. "Sorry for beating you up earlier. I was trying to avoid this."

"If I can't protect my charge, what good am I?" asked the elf.

"If I can get those chains off you, can you stop William?" Eva asked. "You don't need to kill him. You just need to get him to retreat."

"What about you?" he asked.

Eva shrugged. "I've lived a good life," she said.

"What? You're only fifteen, if that!"

Eva smirked. "I said good, not long."

Kayla looked at Eva. Eva nodded. She turned back to William. "Go jump off the roof!" she said.

"It's your decision," said William, releasing his hold on Eva and the elf.

Both of them yelled as they fell. After five floors, Eva's specter band kicked in. She reached for the elf and managed to get a hold of the chains. Eva pulled them off without a second to spare. She devirtualized and prepared herself for the worst.

Eva felt a sharp pain and heard a pop as her shoulder came out of place. The elf had grabbed her arm and was pulling her up.

"You are crazy, Maverick," he said.

"I didn't get your name," said Eva.

"It's Puck," the elf replied.

Kayla couldn't believe that she had let her friend die. Nothing had happened, so they both had to be dead.

"Attack!" William roared.

Monsters of every kind came out of the woodwork. Yumi protected Kayla the best she could and Aelita pulled Jeremy to safety. Ulrich used his speed to block all the laser attacks coming his way. Even the man and the woman were fighting back with laser weapons.

One monster was hit by a green light. They turned to see the elf standing casually on the wall.

"Ulrich!"

Ulrich turned to see Eva running along the wall at a crab. She held out her hand. Ulrich threw her a saber and watched as she sliced the crab down to her level before stabbing it in the weak point.

"Give him here," Jeremy groaned to Kayla. "You need to fight."

Kayla handed the baby to Jeremy and joined the fray.

Aelita carefully aimed for William. If she could get rid of William, odds were that the rest of the monsters would go without much of a fight. Conjuring her largest energy field she could, Aelita took careful aim and fired. The blast hit William and he turned to black smoke. The rest of the monsters blew up as well.

Eva saw that the monsters were gone and ran to Jeremy, checking on the baby. He was awake and alert, but he wasn't crying. Eva let out a sigh of relief.

"You okay?" Ulrich asked, running over to Eva.

Eva handed him his saber. "I'm fine." She looked around. "Where's Odd?"

"The last I saw of him, he was on the tower," said Kayla.

Eva quickly found the stairs to the tower and ran upstairs to find Odd. He was laying face up.

"Odd?" Eva called. She knelt down and shook him. "Come on, Odd. Say something!"

"Something," Odd groaned.

"Smart alec," Eva said, slapping his shoulder. "Come on. Get up."

Odd got to his feet and looked Eva over. "You look like you've been through the wringer."

"I feel like it, too," Eva said.

Odd and Eva went downstairs to find the baby reunited with his mother.

"What happened up here?"

Eva looked at the doors and saw Matt Bluestone and another woman, his partner by the look of things, jobbing up to them.

"Mia?" Matt said when he looked at her.

"Mia?" Puck repeated, turning to Eva. He crossed his arms. "I may be a trickster, but I don't like being tricked."

"Long story short, I don't trust cops," said Eva. "And it's good to see you again, Detective," she sarcastically added.

Eva rubbed at her eyes. Kayla saw that the dark circles were darker than usual.

"You need to get some sleep," she said.

"I'm fine," barked Eva. "I've endured worse."

Kayla didn't argue. But Aelita was ready to.

"Eva, you haven't slept," she said gently. "Even in the hospital. It's clear to see."

"I wouldn't be able to anyway," Eva whispered to Aelita.

Aelita gave a sad, understanding smile. Nightmares could be such a pain.

"Well," Puck said, glancing around. "I guess I could help out on this one." He disappeared and reappeared next to Eva. "Sleep now. You deserve it." Eva closed her eyes and Puck gathered her limp body in his arms. "I'll take her to the infirmary," he said and they vanished.

Jeremy pulled out his mobile.

"Who are you calling?" Yumi asked.

"Yin," replied Jeremy. The mobile rang and rang. Finally Jeremy hung up. "That's weird. She's not answering."

"You don't think something happened to her, do you?" asked Yumi.

"Nah," said Odd. "I'm sure she just can't get to her phone."

* * *

**William's been beaten, but does that mean the LYOKO warriors are in the clear? Uh...Well, you decide. I'll give you a hint...IT'S NOT OVER YET!**


	12. Chapter 12

Yin, Yang, and Maj were climbing their fifth elevator shaft, or was it their sixth. Either way they were making some progress. Unfortunately they were running out of time. Yin guessed that they only had two hours left, if that. Each shaft only went up so many levels.

"How are you holding up?" Yin asked.

"Considering what I've been through in the past ten hours, I'm fine," Yang said, stopping to rub his eyes.

"Let's hope this is the one that leads to the control room," said Maj.

Yin nodded. She reached out and opened the elevator door. The corridor was different from the others. Instead of metal, this one was carpeted and there were paintings hanging on the wall.

"Uh, hmm," Maj grumbled, looking around. "Do you think this is a trap?"

"No," replied Yang. "We're close."

Yin nodded and walked to the end of the corridor. She tried the door and found it locked. Yin smiled and kicked the door with everything she had. The door flew off its hinges and to the other side of the room.

They entered and smiled. They had finally found the control room. Yang immediately began shutting all of the traps down and searched for a way out.

"Anything?" asked Maj, coming up behind him.

Yang shook his head. He typed frantically and a countdown appeared on the monitor. "We only have five minutes to get out of here," he said.

"Good news is that Bane decided not to detonate over a populated area," said Yin, staring out the window.

Maj ran over to her. "Where are we?" she asked.

"My guess," Yin supplied, looking at the expanse of water below them, "the Atlantic."

"Then Bane could be in Manhattan, taking the baby as we speak," said Yang.

"I've already thought of that," said Yin. "I don't think that is the case. Not yet, anyway."

Yang banged his fist on the control panel. "I can't delay the countdown and I can't find us a way out." He banged his fist again.

Yin straightened. "Yang, do that again."

"Do what?" Yang asked.

"Bang your fist," Yin told him. "Hard."

Yang brought his fist down on the panel again.

Yin smiled. "So much for knowing all of my moves," she snickered.

"You have a way out?" asked Maj.

"Yes, I do," replied Yin. "Cover your ears."

Maj and Yang covered their ears and watched Yin step away from them. She began to twirl her staff. Faster and faster she twirled it until it became a violet disk. The sound that it made was deafening. Yin pulled her arm back, pouring her energy into the staff, centrifugal force moving it to the ends. Yang and Maj cringed at the sound. A moment later there was the shattering of glass.

Yin stopped twirling her staff and smiled. "There's our way out," she said. "Let's go!"

The three of them jumped and flew away. Seconds later the airship exploded.

"Good thinking, Yin," said Maj.

"Now let's stop Bane," Yin growled.

The three of them began to fly back to Manhattan.

"This is going to be one heck of a fight," said Yin as they approached the shore.

Yang nodded in agreement.

"So, what's the plan?" asked Maj.

"Plan?" Yin asked.

"Of course," said Maj, slapping her forehead. "What was I thinking? With you there never is a plan."

"This time there is," Yin said.

"Okay, what is it?"

"Fight to the death," Yin replied. "We're pulling out all the stops on this one."

Maj let out a shuddering sigh.

"He's here!" Yang warned.

Bane appeared in front of them. "You don't quit, do you?"

"Nope," replied Yin.

"I overestimated you," Bane said. "I won't make that mistake again."

"Maj," Yin said.

Maj's body began to glow and she transformed. Her hands turned into claws, wings sprouted from her back, and her ears became pointed. She roared, the sound echoing for miles.

"Our turn," Yang said.

Yang's body erupted into crimson flames and Yin's turned so blue that it looked black.

"How cute," Bane said. "Now I can kill you all."

Maj drew her sword and charged Bane. Bane dodged and Yin and Yang came after him. The four of them became blurs to any onlookers who happened to see them. They were moving so fast and casting spells and launching attacks that it looked like a light show of some sort.

Maj was the first one to go down. Bane hit her with some sort of attack that sent her spiraling to the ground. Yin dove after her and managed to stop her descent before Maj smashed on the ground below.

"Are you okay?" Yin asked. Maj nodded. "Stay here!"

Yin leapt into the air and began fighting with her brother at her side. Bane dispatched them quickly. Yang landed in the water and Yin hit the ground hard.

Maj got to her feet and went after Bane, a jet of white fire emerging from her mouth.

"Yin," Yang called, getting up and running over to his sister.

"I'm okay," murmured Yin. "I've had worse hits."

"We can't do this by ourselves," said Yang.

Yin was quiet for a moment, trying to catch her breath. Then an idea occurred to her. "No, we do it together," she said.

"Yin, the three of us don't stand a chance," Yang said.

Yin shook her head. "I mean physically together."

"A fusion?" asked Yang. "It's only been done three times in the history of our kind."

"I know, but it should work," said Yin. "We're twins."

Yang nodded. He held out his hand. Yin took it and a bright light engulfed them both.

Maj took a hard hit and went down. Bane laughed. Suddenly, something struck him in the mouth, sending him reeling.

"How do you like that?"

Bane looked to see a being with a creature with a blue-black body with crimson designs. A pair of fiery wings kept it aloft and its violet eyes stared at Bane.

"What?" Bane whispered in fear. "A fusion? That's impossible!"

"Improbable," the creature said, a combination of both Yin and Yang's voices. "Not impossible."

Bane howled as he summoned his energy to destroy the siblings. The fusion of Yin and Yang was much quicker. With speed Bane had never seen from either sibling, its hand shot out and fired a bolt of energy. Bane went flying back.

"Mind if I get in on this?" growled Maj.

"We would be insulted if you didn't," Yin/Yang said.

Maj unleashed a fiery attack and Yin/Yang fired another bolt of energy. They poured all of their energy into the final blow. Bane shrieked as he was incinerated.

They landed and Yin and Yang split apart.

"You okay?" Yin panted.

"Yeah," Yang replied. "Maj?"

"I'm fine," she replied.

"What is this?"

Maj groaned, instantly knowing the voice. Maho and her apprentice were standing nearby. A portal closed behind them.

"Now you show up," Yin said.

"Yin Tale Teller de-Roux, you are under arrest for insubordination," Maho said.

"Oh, Maho, tell someone who cares," Yin said.

"That is no way to talk to your superior!" snapped Liam.

"The same to you, boy," Yang said, getting to his feet.

Maho gasped. "Captain Pyro!" she said, saluting him.

"Pyro?" Liam repeated. "As in Captain Yang Pyro de-Roux? You're related to Yin?"

"Well, duh!" Yin said. "Where there's a yin, there has to be a yang. Hey, Maj, can you handle this for me? I have some other business to attend to."

"Uh, sure," said Maj.

"Come on, Yang," said Yin, taking her brother's hand. "We have a lot of catching up to do."


	13. Chapter 13

**You probably could stop reading this right now and not miss anything. But you wouldn't do that to me, would you? I put a lot of hard work into the end of this. I would like your comments for the somewhat crummy poem I/Eva wrote about the LYOKO warriors. Thank you! XD.**

* * *

Kayla sat next to the bed in the infirmary. Eva was out like a light. Kayla couldn't remember a time when Eva actually slept more than three hours at a time. She was always tossing and turning in her sleep.

"May I come in?" Matt Bluestone asked.

Kayla nodded. "I don't think she'll be waking up anytime soon," she said quietly.

"I wanted to know what her story was," Matt said. "In the hospital, the doctor told me her body was covering in scars. Was she abused?"

Kayla nodded. "She was. She probably doesn't want me to tell you about it."

"I understand that," he said. "But if there is something that I can do to help her."

"There isn't," Kayla said. "Don't worry about it. Eva's strong. She's endured everything thrown at her and sent it right back at life."

"Let's let her sleep in peace," said Matt.

Kayla agreed and they left the room.

* * *

Aelita woke up screaming in the middle of the night. As soon as she realized where she was she clamped her hand over her mouth to stifle her cries. Drying her eyes, she got out of bed and walked down to the infirmary where Eva was sleeping.

Eva was sleeping peacefully. Aelita didn't want to wake her up so she sat in the chair Kayla occupied earlier that night.

"Hey," came a raspy whisper. Aelita looked up to see Eva looking at her with half-closed eyes. "What's wrong?"

"I couldn't sleep," Aelita said. "Nightmares."

Eva moved over to the far edge of the bed. "Get up here," she said.

Aelita crawled into bed beside Eva. Eva put her arm around Aelita and Aelita let her head fall on Eva's shoulder.

"Comfy?" Eva asked.

"Yes," Aelita replied. "Good night."

* * *

Odd and Ulrich stayed up late to watch television with Hudson, the eldest of the gargoyles. Bronx, the gargoyle dog, laid at his master's feet with a large bone.

Odd grumbled while he watched the television, hanging off the sofa. He kicked off his shoes. Ulrich, who was sitting beside him, gagged.

"Oh, Odd!" he yelled, pinching his nose shut. "Are you crazy?"

"Will you two be quiet?" Hudson asked. "I'm trying to—" Hudson sniffed the air. "Och! What is that stench?"

"Odd's feet," replied Ulrich, opening the door to get some fresh air.

Bronx whined and covered his face with his paws.

"That's enough to raise the dead and kill them again!" Hudson exclaimed, getting up from his chair to open the windows.

"All right, I get it!" Odd cried. "My feet stink. It's not like I can help it."

"Regular bathing should help," Hudson said.

"He's tried that," said Ulrich. "It doesn't work."

* * *

Yumi, Jeremy, and Kayla returned to the Plaza Hotel and met up with Robbins. They told him what had happened and Kayla and Yumi took him and Gilly home.

Jeremy went back to the bedroom and tried to call Yin again.

"Hello?"

"Yin? I'm so glad I got a hold of you," Jeremy said with a sigh of relief.

"I'm guessing that you called earlier," said Yin.

"I did," said Jeremy. "You didn't answer. We were starting to get a little worried about you."

"Sorry," said Yin. "I was in the middle of something. You defeated William?"

"Yeah, the baby's fine," Jeremy answered.

"Good. I got my guy as well," Yin told him. "Hey, listen. I'm going to busy the next couple of days. Do you mind staying in New York for a little while longer? It'll only be a week or so."

"No problem," said Jeremy. "As long as we get back to school."

"Don't worry about that," said Yin. "I'll have that all taken care of. And tell Odd that Kiwi's fine. He's a little angel."

"I will," said Jeremy. "I'll call you in a few days."

"Bye."

Yin hung up her mobile and looked at Yang.

"You are such a liar," Yang said.

Yin laughed nervously. "Do you think Maj will ever forgive me for leaving the dog with her?"

"If you replace the tapestry he shredded, maybe she will," said Yang.

Yin shrugged. "At least he didn't piddle."

The twins laughed.

* * *

Eva woke the next morning wondering where she was. She was about to jump up when she realized that Aelita was sleeping next to her. Slowly, Eva got out of bed and looked around.

The last thing she remembered was Puck telling her to sleep. She had no memory of coming here and Aelita crawling into bed with her. At least she knew Aelita was safe.

Eva noticed something else. Her pain was gone. In the past couple of days, she had been hit by a car, gotten into a fight with one of the residence of this castle, been knocked in the head, thrown off the roof, and had her shoulder dislocated. Pain was something Eva was accustomed to feeling every morning when she got out of bed. This morning there was none. She was in an infirmary. Could someone have dosed her with painkillers? Eva looked herself over for injection marks and found none. So what happened?

The man she had fought with last night came in. "Miss Maverick," he started to say.

Eva grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the infirmary. "Aelita's still asleep," she explained.

"I came to inform you that your friends Mr. Belpois, Miss Olson, and Miss Ishiyama returned to the Plaza Hotel last night. Mr. Stern and Mr. Della Robbia stayed, as well as Miss Stones," he said.

"Thank you . . . Owen, right?" Eva asked, trying to remember the moments before she got whacked in the head.

"Yes," he replied.

Eva let out a sigh of relief. Her memory was still good.

"Is your shoulder causing you pain?" Owen asked.

Eva looked up at him. She looked at her bad shoulder and found that she was rubbing it. She let her hand drop to her side.

"No, it doesn't hurt," said Eva. "That's what's bothering me. After what I went through last night, I figured I would be limping out of bed this morning."

"You would have, if it were not for Puck," Owen answered.

Eva gave him an incredulous look. "After what I did to you last night? I figured you wouldn't help me."

"You saved his life," Owen said.

"And he saved mine. We were even. You didn't have to do anything after that."

"Puck thought differently," Owen said.

"Thanks, anyway," Eva said. "What you did is appreciated."

Owen bowed his head in appreciation. Eva gave him a light punch in the arm.

"You got one heck of right cross by the way," Eva said with a smirk.

Owen cleared his throat. "Breakfast will be served in the dining hall in thirty minutes. There is a bathroom down the hall if you wish to take a shower."

"Thanks, Owen," said Eva.

Eva walked down the hall and entered the bathroom. She closed the door and pressed her back against it. Sighing, she looked around the spacious room. There was a bathtub big enough for two, a large vanity with two sinks, a toilet in the corner, and a huge shower with a frosted glass door.

Stripping down, Eva placed her clothes on the chair next to the shower. She stepped into the tiled stall and turned on the showerhead. Hot water fell on her head and shoulders. Eva hissed with pain, but body quickly adjusted to the temperature and she relaxed.

* * *

Odd and Ulrich were awake. They were walking to the infirmary to see if Eva was up. Aelita wasn't in her room, so they guessed she spent the night with Eva.

"Do you think Eva's going to be in a good mood?" asked Odd. "She didn't seem too happy last night."

"Who can tell?" asked Ulrich. "She went through a lot. I mean, getting dropped from a skyscraper isn't fun. Maybe you can cheer her up."

"Me?" Odd laughed. "Now that's funny. I never heard Eva laugh before. Did you?"

Ulrich shrugged. "Good point."

There was a scream. The boys rushed to the infirmary to find Aelita thrashing and screaming in the bed Eva was supposed to be occupying.

"Aelita!" Odd jumped on the bed and shook her awake. "Wake up, Aelita!"

Aelita opened her eyes and saw where she was. She started crying and clung to Odd.

"It's okay, princess," he soothed. "It was just a nightmare."

"Is everything all right in here?" Owen asked.

The three of them jumped. They hadn't heard him enter.

"I heard screaming."

They all turned to see Eva standing in the doorway, dripping wet and wrapped in a towel. The way her hair was pushed back, all her scars along her hairline and on her shoulders and back were visible.

"Aelita had a bad dream," said Ulrich.

Eva nodded and looked at Aelita. "Okay," she said quietly and walked away.

Aelita wiped her eyes and looked at Owen. Ulrich and Odd saw the startled and horrified look in Owen's eyes, though he tried to hide it.

"We know," said Ulrich.

Owen turned to him.

"We don't know the whole story, but it was really bad for her," Aelita said.

The four of them went to the dining hall and had breakfast together.

"So what do you want to do today?" asked Odd.

"I want to see the Statue of Liberty," said Aelita.

"I want to go to a Broadway show," said Ulrich.

"You should take Yumi with you," said Odd.

"Be quiet," said Ulrich.

"What about you, Eva?" asked Aelita. "Anything you want to see?"

"Not that I can think of," said Eva. She got up from her seat and left.

"What's eating her?" asked Odd.

"You?" Ulrich asked.

Aelita's mobile beeped. She took it from her pocket and read the text message she received. It was from Jeremy telling them that he, Yumi, and Kayla would be coming back soon.

* * *

Eva was in the library. She had been there since breakfast either reading or writing. At the moment, she half-stood, half-sat on the ladder to the high bookshelves. She had enough of light from outside to read by. Since breakfast, Eva had read _Macbeth_ and _A Midsummer Night's Dream_. She had read them before, the latter being one of Mackenzie's favorite stories. With her locket hanging open, Eva whispered the words Shakespeare wrote almost four hundred years ago. This was how she told her little sister bedtime stories. For fear of being heard and beaten, Eva would climb into Mackenzie's bed and quietly read a scene in her sister's ear.

_"'If we shadows have offended,_

_Think but this, and all is mended-_

_That you have but slumb'red here_

_While these visions did appear._

_And this weak and idle theme,_

_No more yielding but a dream,_

_Gentles, do not reprehend._

_If you pardon, we will mend._

_And, as I am an honest Puck,_

_If we have unearned luck_

_Now to scape the serpent's tongue,_

_We will make amends ere long;_

_Else the Puck a liar call._

_So, good night unto you all._

_Give me your hands, if we be friends,_

_And Robin shall restore amends.'"_

Eva closed the book and put it back on the shelf. "Ah, Puck," she whispered. "He was always your favorite, wasn't he, Macaroon?" Eva held her locket in her hand, staring at the smiling face of her sister. "Mine, too. You know, he saved my life last night. He took my pain away, too. He may be a trickster, but there is some good in him."

The door to the library opened and Odd wandered in.

"Eva, you in here?" he called.

Eva climbed down the ladder and walked over to Odd. "What do you want?"

Odd nearly jumped out of his skin. He whipped around and smiled. "Jeez, phantasm! You really know how to scare someone."

"Sorry," said Eva.

Odd grinned and noticed something on the floor. It was sheet of notebook paper. He bent down and picked it up. It was Eva's handwriting, Odd was sure of that. It read:

_All have reason to do what they do,_

_Everyone wants a life that is full._

_We wish to be remembered when we are gone,_

_Desire something be left of us at the coming dawn._

_Only the great are immortalized and revered,_

_But there are those who are more than they appear._

_We exist in the background not in the fore,_

_Most others think we are simply bores._

_Too true for the seven of us in the past,_

_We did not see it wasn't about to last._

_From average life, we were torn asunder,_

_Was it chance, fate, or only a blunder?_

_An ordinary day suddenly turned stranger,_

_When he learned the LYOKO princess was in danger._

_Her life he took into his hands,_

_Wished to get her away from that land._

_He sent the odd cat and the stern samurai,_

_The quiet geisha; they stood side by side_

_Determined to save the world they loved,_

_Fought underground for the above._

_Time passed and things went awry,_

_All were injured on the inside._

_Drastic measures were forced to be taken,_

_Another warrior, one the world had forsaken._

_Phantasm was crafty, but another was needed,_

_One with the will never to be beaten._

_With the princess's double, they were whole,_

_They all fight with the same goal:_

_Usurp the usurper, re-throne the king,_

_Knowing there will never be a song of them to sing._

_Not that it matters, as said before,_

_We are in the background, not the fore._

"Wow, Eva," said Odd. "You wrote this?"

"I left out a few things, but I didn't find them important," said Eva. "If you like, I can write more."

"You are amazing," said Odd. "Can I keep this?"

Eva nodded. "I have it memorized," she said.

Odd folded it up and put it in his pocket. "Come on," he said, clapping her on the shoulder. "Kayla's here. She wants to check up on you."

Eva and Odd walked out of the library and looked for Kayla.

* * *

**If you skipped my note at the beginning, I'll reiterate: Please, PLEASE, give me feedback on the LYOKO warriors poem. Thank you.**


	14. Chapter 14

Yin, Yang, and Maj stood in front of the captain of the guard. Maho and Liam were standing beside them. Liam had an ill-concealed smirk on his face. Everyone knew the three of them were in for it.

The captain of the guard was large man with a crewcut. He always wore an olive green uniform with black combat boots. His hooded eyes were looking down his hooked nose at Yin, Yang, and Maj. Yin had a habit of calling the captain "Bird Man."

"Deliberate disobedience of a direct order," the captain said in a rough voice, reading from the report Maho and Liam gave him. "Conduct unbecoming of a guardian of the dimensions. Destruction of guardian property."

Yin looked at Maj, confused.

"The airship," mouthed Maj.

"Not our fault," muttered Yin.

"Silence!" the captain shouted. He looked at the file and did a double take. "Soliciting minors to aid in hindering an ongoing guardian investigation? Multiple charges of endangering the welfare of a minor? Yin, what have you been doing?"

"Sir, there was no solicitation of any sort," Yin said. "Unless you count me giving a dollar to a homeless man."

"So no minors were involved?" asked the captain.

"I said there was no solicitation," Yin said.

"They paid her with a dog," said Liam.

"The dog had nowhere to go," said Yin. "We were just watching him until they got back."

"Sir, Yin may be unconventional, but she knew that if no action was taken, the welfare of the dimensions would be in jeopardy," Yang said.

"Who are you?" snapped the captain.

"This is Yang Pyro de-Roux," said Maho.

"Pyro?" asked the captain. "The Yang Pyro de-Roux?"

"Yes, sir," said Yang.

"Records show you were killed," said the captain. He turned to Yin. "By your sister."

"That would have been the case if it were not for unforeseen events," said Yang. "I lived and was controlled by the djinn named Bane."

"Bane?" scoffed Liam. "Bane has been dead for centuries."

"Bane's execution order was to be carried out before any of us were born," said Yang. "He was never executed. Until now."

"By our hands, Bane is dead," said Maj.

"Then where is his corpse?" Liam asked.

"You are welcome to reassemble the ashes into a body if you like," said Maj.

"Be one hell of a jigsaw puzzle," Yin added.

"Quiet, all of you," commanded the captain. He sighed. "I have no choice, since there is no proof a body that—"

The door to the room opened and a messenger rushed in. He handed the captain an envelope and left. The captain ripped the envelope open and read the letter inside. He paled and his jaw went slack.

"What is it?" asked Maho.

"A pardon for Magicfire, Yin, and Yang," answered the captain. "Issued by the high councilman himself."

The three friends looked at each other. The high councilman? This was big!

"You are free to leave," said the captain.

"Cool," said Yin. "See you next week, Bird Man."

"What just happened?" asked Maj.

"We got bailed out," answered Yin.

"By the high councilman," Maj said. "But how would something like this reach him so quickly?"

"I have a feeling that someone who knows one of us has connections to the big man himself," said Yin.

"But who?" asked Maj. She looked at Yin. "No, you didn't."

"Did what?" asked Yin. "I was just as surprised as you were when the pardon came in. I didn't say anything to anyone about what I was going to do. You didn't, did you?"

"How could I?" asked Maj. "I barely knew anything until you summoned me. Yang?"

"I've been under Bane's thumb," said Yang. "I don't know anyone who would do this for us. If anything, I would think someone would order my execution right on the spot for everything I've done."

"So if it's no one you know," said Maj, "and it's no one I know, then it must be someone you know, Yin."

Yin shrugged her shoulders. "I haven't asked anyone to do me any favors. I can't think of anyone who has connections to anyone in the guard."

Maj sighed. "Whoever it was, we owe them. I better get home. Kiwi probably needs to go out."

Maj opened up a portal and stepped through it.

Yang turned to Yin. "You're not going to tell her it was your friend?"

Yin shook her head. "I don't even know if it was him," she said. "But it won't hurt to check. You owe your life to him. Come on, I'll introduce you."

"What about the children?" asked Yang.

"Aelita and the others? They're in Manhattan with a clan of gargoyles," said Yin. "What could happen?"

"**What could happen?" she says. Yeah, you know that something is about to happen. Keep reading to find out.**


	15. Chapter 15

"Patrol? With you?" Kayla asked.

The sun had gone down moments ago and the gargoyles were assigning patrols for the night and had asked if the LYOKO warriors wished to go with them. They were surprised that they offered.

"Sure," said Yumi. "It'll give us a chance to see the city."

"I'm in," said Odd.

"Same here," said Ulrich.

"I'm up for some action," said Eva.

"No way!" cried Kayla to Eva.

"What?" asked Eva. "I feel fine. I can handle a tussle with a couple of thugs."

"I'm going to have to agree with Kayla," said Jeremy. "You had to use your specter band twice last night. On top of that, you're the one who's been using it the most. We don't know what kind of effect it will have on your body in the long run."

"Eva, I'll go in your place," said Kayla.

"I prefer to stay here," said Jeremy. "I have some things I need to work on."

"I'll stay, too," said Aelita.

Eva was not pleased. "Fine," she said. "But if you run into trouble, call me."

"XANA's gone," said Odd. "What's the worst that could happen?"

"Hey!" Kayla and Eva both yelled. "Don't jinx it!"

Odd chuckled and hurried to the edge of the castle to transform and hop onto his over-board.

Odd, Broadway, Angela, and Kayla went one direction and Yumi, Ulrich, Brooklyn, and Lexington went another direction. Goliath went off by himself. Eva, Aelita, and Jeremy went inside with Hudson and Bronx. Hudson went to watch television and Jeremy and Aelita found a quiet room to work. Eva wandered the castle and wound up in Alexander's nursery. The baby cooed when he saw her. Eva smiled and took a seat next to his crib. There was book of fairy tales on the table. Eva picked it up and began reading to Alexander.

Yumi and Ulrich flew next to the gargoyles on their vehicles. Lexington kept stealing looks at Yumi.

"What?" she asked after she caught him for the third time.

"Um, can I have a ride?" Lexington asked.

"Sure," replied Yumi.

Lexington glided over to Yumi and folded his wings, landing lightly on the back of the over-wing. "This is fun!" he laughed.

"Cool bike, Ulrich," Brooklyn commented.

"Thanks," said Ulrich. "Jeremy designed it."

"How come your vehicle is the only one with wheels?" asked Lexington.

"I hate heights," Ulrich answered. "I've always dealt with vertigo. It's better now that I'm getting used to flying, but I still have my bad days."

"Bad days are when he freezes up and refuses to budge," Yumi said.

"It's terrible," said Ulrich.

Brooklyn looked down. "Oh. Looks like we got a robbery in progress," he said. "Showtime."

The four of them landed on a building rooftop across the street of a jewelry store that was being robbed. The alarms were going off and the thieves were climbing out via a skylight. The gargoyles glided over and Yumi and Ulrich leapt across the street.

"What the?" the thieves cried when they saw them.

Ulrich dashed up and knocked them down and Yumi cartwheeled over to the skylight to see one more thief making his way up a rope. She smiled and took out one of her fans, the moonlight glinting off the metal.

"Oh, no," muttered the thief.

Yumi cut the rope and the thief fell back to the floor. It wasn't a long drop, but he still landed hard enough to knock the wind out of him.

"Nice shot, Yumi," said Brooklyn, hoisting a bad guy over his shoulder.

"Thank you," said Yumi.

* * *

Odd was doing tricks over Kayla's head. It was becoming as annoying as it was dangerous.

"Will you please stop?" asked Kayla. "You're making me nervous as a cat in a roomful of rocking chairs."

Odd laughed. "That should be my line," he said, flicking his tail for emphasis.

"Oh, stop," said Kayla.

Angela giggled. "Are things always like this between you two?"

"You bet!" chirped Odd. "Right, sunshine?"

"Be careful, Odd," said Kayla. "My hand may slip and Eva will hear everything that's going on." She was joking, but also serious.

"You're in trouble now," said Broadway. "So how long have you been going out?"

"What?" asked Kayla.

"Oh, a while now," Odd said without missing a beat. "A month. I must say it's my longest relationship and my most dangerous. You try keeping secrets from Eva. Not much gets by that girl."

"I think you are getting yourself into a lot of trouble with that sort of talk," said Angela.

"Yeah, probably," said Odd. He smiled at Angela and drifted over to her. "But I always get in trouble with the cute girls."

"Hey!" yelled Broadway.

Odd laughed and zoomed out of Broadway's reach. He gasped and froze.

"Odd?" Kayla called. "Are you okay?"

No response.

Odd saw Goliath by himself. He was being attacked by the man from the castle he and Ulrich visited and was losing. There was something in the man's eyes: XANA's mark.

Odd gasped for breath and turned to the others. "Goliath's in trouble!"

* * *

Eva finished reading a story to Alexander. He cried out for another one, but Eva shook her head.

"Get some rest little one," she said.

Alexander reached his hand out and a green light shot from his fingers. It struck Eva in the head and knocked her down.

"Goliath needs your help," said a little voice in her mind.

Eva sat up and panted. What was that? She looked at Alexander in his crib looking decidedly stern. The baby nodded once as if to confirm what Eva was thinking. She jumped up and dashed out of the nursery.

"Aelita? Jeremy?" she said into her specter band. Nothing. "Rats! They're probably too absorbed in their work or asleep."

Eva ran outside and smacked the button on her specter band to activate her LYOKO form. She took two steps and leapt into the air, her feet landing on her over-board. Though she didn't know where she was going, Eva took off at breakneck speed. She had a feeling that she knew where she was going even if she didn't realize it.

* * *

Goliath was in trouble. He was currently kissing the dirt after Macbeth had thrown him twenty feet. Goliath knew Macbeth was immortal, but he didn't know that he possessed such strength. And what was wrong with his eyes?

Something struck Macbeth and sent him flying back. Goliath turned to see a girl with her face painted like a skull walking up to them. What was her name? That's right, Eva! What was she doing here?

"So you know, XANA, the others are on their way," Eva said. She wasn't sure if they were, but better to bluff than tell the truth.

Macbeth got to his feet and charged Eva. They tumbled to the ground, trying to overpower one another. Goliath jumped up and pulled Macbeth off of Eva only to receive an electric shock. Macbeth took a few steps back before launching an energy blast at Goliath.

"Look out!" Eva cried, knocking Goliath to the ground and barely dodging the blast.

"He acts as if he is possessed!" Goliath said.

"That's because he is," said Eva. "XANA's controlling him."

"How do we stop it?" asked Goliath.

Eva shook her head. "Under normal circumstances, XANA would need to activate a tower and Aelita's the only one that can deactivate them. But this is not normal circumstances. XANA's got us good this time because we can't get to LYOKO."

"Isn't there anything we can do?" barked Goliath.

"Uh, maybe," said Eva.

Eva ran straight at Macbeth. Just before she reached him, her body began to fade. She grabbed Macbeth by the coat and jumped on top of him. They fell to the ground, yelling in pain. Her hands entered Macbeth's chest and a black aura enveloped them both. Macbeth struggled to get up and managed to get to his knees. The aura suddenly vanished and they both went flying. Eva hit the ground and returned to her normal form while Macbeth was knocked unconscious.

Goliath rushed over to Eva.

"I'm okay," she said. "What about him?"

Goliath cautiously approached Macbeth.

Macbeth groaned. "What happened?" he asked. He looked up at Goliath. "Goliath?"

"Are you out of your mind?"

They looked up to see Odd, Kayla, Angela, and Broadway. Kayla hopped off her glider and ran over to Eva.

"What happened here?" asked Broadway.

"Macbeth was possessed," said Goliath. "Eva managed to break the control holding him."

"And she better not try it again," said Kayla. "Eva, you are a downright mess this time. How's the pain?"

"There won't be any if you let me sleep," Eva said wearily as she closed her eyes.

"Let's get her back to the castle," said Odd. He turned to Macbeth. "Remember me?"

"How could I forget you?" asked Macbeth.

"I just have one of those faces," Odd said with a smile.

They all stood around Eva as she slept in the infirmary. Everyone had been called back to the castle and Macbeth returned with them.

"She forced XANA's specter out of you?" asked Yumi, amazed.

"How did she manage to do that?" asked Ulrich.

"I noticed her body began to fade when she attacked Macbeth," said Goliath.

"Jeremy?" Aelita turned to him for an explanation.

Jeremy put his fingers to his lips. "The only explanation I can come up with was that there were too many minds for one body. Macbeth and Eva both wanted XANA out and when Eva began forcing herself into Macbeth's body, there was enough power between them to drive XANA out."

"I didn't know she could possess people," said Odd. "That's cool."

"No, it's not," said Jeremy. "It's dangerous. And to knock out Eva after she did it, we know that it goes beyond taxing her body. We don't know the damage her little stunt pulled and we won't know until she wakes up."

"If ever," said Xanatos.

Kayla glared at him. "It's Eva. It's only a matter of time before she wakes up."

Xanatos backed off.

"So now we know that XANA is still here," said Aelita. "What do we do?"

"What can we do?" asked Ulrich. "It's not like we can get to LYOKO to deactivate a tower."

"We'll just take it as it comes," said Yumi.

"I can try to deactivate whatever tower XANA has activated from here," said Jeremy. "I don't have the supercomputer so it may take awhile."

"Try that," said Aelita. "It may be enough."

"What about Eva?" asked Ulrich.

They turned back to Eva.

"Now we pray," said Kayla. "We pray for her to wake soon."

* * *

**Cliff hanger! Hahaha! Review please!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Fair warning: I mention another cartoon, **_**Chaotic**_**. This is only because I thought it would be fitting to end the series this way. Enjoy the final chapter of the Dimensional Guards Trilogy.**

* * *

The days went by quickly. The gargoyles woke every night to see how Eva was. There was little change, but each day was a bit more promising. Once, Eva twitched her hand in her sleep and then later she grabbed Kayla's wrist when she fixed the blankets.

It was Kayla who spent most of her time at Eva's side. The others went on patrol with the gargoyles during the night and did a little sightseeing by day. Odd and Yumi picked out get-well gifts for Eva. Jeremy spent most of his time running interference. As soon as he would get one tower deactivated, XANA would activate another.

"The week's almost up," Jeremy absentmindedly said.

Aelita turned to him. "I know," she said. "Do you think Yin will be able to help Eva?"

"Maybe," said Jeremy.

Kayla stepped out to get something to eat. When she returned to the infirmary, Eva was gone! She looked around before running to tell her friends that Eva was missing.

"She's awake?" cried Yumi.

They scattered and began searching for her.

Odd checked the gymnasium and found Eva. She was doing cartwheels on the mats.

"Hey!" he called.

Eva stopped and looked at him. "I have a feeling I was out for a while."

"A long while," said Odd. "Most of the week. How are you feeling?"

"Back to my old self," said Eva. "The pain's there, my head's clear. Everything's where it should be."

"I'm glad to hear that," said Odd. "Let's go tell the others."

* * *

"Eva!" cried Kayla, hugging her friend.

"We're glad you're okay," said Ulrich.

"What a relief," said Aelita.

"Yeah," said Eva. "You mind if I go for a walk? I don't mind you following me, but my legs are numb. If I don't get the blood back in them, I'm going to be more than a little miserable."

The seven of them walked to the atrium where there was a variety of plants, including several trees. They all sat down around one tree.

Yumi made a grunting sound.

"What?" asked Ulrich.

"There's something I always wanted to do," said Yumi. "It's kinda cliche, but . . . " Yumi took the pocketknife Eva gave her and turned around. She began to carve her name into the trunk of the tree.

One by one, the others took their knives from their pockets and carved their names next to Yumi's. Odd finished it up by carving a circle around their names.

"Forever LYOKO," he said.

"Yeah," said Ulrich.

"Did you ever wonder what it's going to be like once XANA's been defeated?" asked Jeremy.

"A little," said Odd. "School will certainly be boring."

"We'll make our own excitement," said Eva.

They all sat there in silence for a long moment.

"We better get back to the hotel," said Jeremy. "Yin comes for us in the morning. We better say good-bye to everyone."

"I'm going to miss those guys," said Odd.

"We all will," said Yumi.

The seven of them started back up to the castle to say good-bye to their new friends.

* * *

Yin got up the morning she was supposed to pick up the LYOKO warriors. She got dressed and grabbed her key.

"Where are going?" asked Yang.

Yin smiled. "You know where," she said. "I'll be back in a little bit. Be ready to leave when I get back. There's somewhere we need to go."

Yang smiled back and watched his sister open a portal and step through it.

Yin walked into the hotel room to find the LYOKO warriors were ready to go.

"Did you have fun?" Yin asked.

"You bet we did," said Odd.

"Come on," said Yin. "Let's get you home."

They stepped through the portal and found themselves in Jeremy's room.

"Thanks for the help," said Yin.

"No, thank you," said Aelita. "It was nice to see another dimension. Two, actually."

"You are very welcome," said Yin. "Good-bye."

Yin stepped back through the portal and it closed behind her. The others sat on Jeremy's bed and on the floor.

"Oh, no!" cried Odd. "I forgot about Kiwi!"

There was a bark and Kiwi came running out from under Jeremy's desk. Odd scooped him up and allowed the small dog to lick his face.

"I missed you, too," laughed Odd.

"Hey," said Ulrich. He was looking at his wrist. "Where did our specter bands go?"

They all looked at their wrists and found their specter bands missing. They checked their pockets and their luggage, but they were nowhere to be found.

"Don't worry," said Jeremy, booting up his computer. "I made copies of the files. Just give me a minute to access them. That's strange."

"What is?" asked Aelita.

"The files—they're deleted!" said Jeremy.

"What? How?" asked Kayla.

Eva chuckled from her place on the edge of the bed. "We don't need them anymore. If anything, I'm glad they are gone. They're too much of a temptation to use."

"Aw," said Odd. "I'm going to miss riding the over-board in the night sky."

"It's for the best," said Kayla. "We don't want anyone getting hurt."

"That's true," said Ulrich.

"Come on," said Yumi. "The specter things Yin used are probably gone. We got to get to class."

* * *

Yin and Yang stood at the edge of a large lake with a castle rising to the sky. Yang was a little nervous about being here. The place was as peaceful as it was imposing. Yin stood beside him and giggled.

"Don't look so nervous," Yin told him. "You don't have anything to worry about while I'm here."

"Why are we here?" asked Yang.

"You need to thank the man who saved both our lives," said Yin, starting for the path that led to the castle.

Yang followed close behind her.

Yin knocked on the front door and waited. The door did not open, but there was a voice telling them to enter from high above them. She tapped Yang's arm and flew up to the large windows.

"Tale Teller," said Najarin. "Do you have a tale to tell?"

"I always do, Najarin," said Yin. "But first, I want you to meet my brother. Yang, this is Najarin, the man who saved both our lives."

"Hello," Yang said with a deep bow.

Najarin turned to Yin. "It's going to be a long tale, isn't it?"

Yin smiled. "I hope you have a lot of free time on your hands, my friend. This one's centuries in the making."

* * *

**Finally it's over! I hope you enjoyed the trilogy. Considering the time constraints I adhered myself to, I must say that I am impressed with myself. I thought it fitting to end it the way I ended the other two parts with Yin going to Perim to tell Najarin what happened. Review please.**


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